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THE 



PENETRALIA; 

BEING 

HARMONIAL ANSWERS 

TO 

IMPORTANT QUESTIONS. 



BY 

ANDREW JACKSON DAVIS, 

4 l 
AUTHOR OF 

Several Volumes on the Harmonial Philosophy. 



The power to put a question presupposes and guarantees the power no less to an- 
swer it. — See page 21. 



REVISED, RESTEREOTYPED, AND ENLARGED 

No./fe>75y G . 

BOSTON. 
WILLIAM WHITE AND GOMPAN T, 

158 WASHINGTON STREET. 

NEW YORK: 

BANNER OF LIGHT BRANCH OFFICE, 544 BROADWAY. 
1872. 









Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1872, 

BY ANDREW JACKSON DAVIS, 

In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 



Stereotyped at the 
WOMEN'S PRINTING HOUSE, 

Corner Avenue A and Eighth Street, 
New York. 



PREFACE 



From time to time, during the past three years, the 
Author has been interrogated on almost every topic; 
frequently by letter, sometimes orally, and naturally by 
the subjects themselves while undergoing examination. 

This volume is designed and fraternally submitted as 
a responsum, or reply, to such questions as have ap- 
peared most important and serviceable to Mankind. 

" Penetralia " is a Latin term, signifying the inmost 
or " secret recesses " of a palace, temple, idea, or prin- 
ciple. 

Accordant with the spirit of this word, the Author 
has penetrated the hidden and sequestered parts of nu- 
merous questions, of the most momentous import to 
every human mind. 

From the spiritual interior — from the penetralia of 
the imperishable Univerccelum— the essence of each an- 
swer was derived. Nevertheless, the method is familiar 
as the ordinary deductions of the intellect. 

The Author does not presume to believe that his re- 



* PREFACE. 

plies will be either final or gratifying to those who oc- 
cupy different positions in regard to the several subjects 
considered. And yet, his spirit is animated with the 
hope that, to such minds, the following pages may sug- 
gest even more than they express, of high thoughts and 
saving principles. 

The motive that actuates the spirit of this " Penp;tea- 
lia" is, to cause a diviner faith to shine in the heart of 
human nature. 

In order to accomplish this glorious result, it states 
the questions in a variety of forms, and answers them 
in plain words and familiar illustrations : 

It probes the various departments of human exist- 
ence, and considers both the ordinary and extraordi- 
nary, the sensuous and celestial : 

It reaches down to the very foundation of Nature's 
trifold Temple, and conducts the philosophical reader 
through pleasurable labyrinths innumerable : 

It sweeps the chords of creation, sings the sweet an- 
themnal song of Eternal Harmony, and awakens aspi- 
rations toward Love, Wisdom, and Liberty. 

A. J. D. 

New York, June 12, 1856. 



CONTENTS. 



PACK 

The Philosophy op Questions and Answers ... 9 
The Assembly's Shorter Catechism, Revised and Cor- 
rected 36 

Questions on Life, Local and Universal . . . .92 

Questions on Theo-Physiology 113 

Questions on the Despotism op Opinion . . . . . 132 
Questions on the Martyrdom op Jesus .... 154 
Questions on the Mytiis op Modern Theology . . 203 
Questions on the Evidences op Immortality . . . 237 
Questions on the Effects of Utilitarianism . . . 333 
Questions on the Origin and Perpetuity of Character 398 
Questions on the Benefits and Penalties op Individ- 
ualism 445 

Questions on the Benefits and Penalties of Institu- 
tionalism 475 

PSYCHOMETRICAL EXAMINATION OP WlLLIAM LLOYD GARRI- 
SON 502 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF QUESTIONS AM) ANSWERS. 



Politically and theologically, the human mind is in 
bondage; but constitutionally and spiritually, it is free 
as Deity. Its thoughts, regardless of the barriers of 
time and space, fly on swiftest pinions everywhere. 
Everlasting mountains, though piled up and lost in 
clouds, are but play-grounds. Thoughts, in good 
minds, are angels. The mind, fearfully and wonder- 
fully made, composes itself in harmony; and, like a 
demi-god, commissions its Thoughts to do the out- door 
work. By sober reflection, who can trace the rovings 
of Thought? Thoughts, the mind's children, play in 
Nature's fields. On eager wing, they fly down the 
long ages gone, perch themselves on the beginnings of 
life, and answer questions as by the breathings of in- 
tuition. The varied journeyings of these angels are 
hard to trace. Like birds of another sphere, endowed 
with functions of fleetest motion, men's Thoughts revel' 
amid stars, and play fearlessly with shining hosts, 
where, one would say, only highest seraphs dare to 
tread. Meanwhile the mind, clothed with the physical 



10 THE PHILOSOPHY OF 

vesture, sits in judgment upon the tales of Thought — 
pronouncing them "good " or "evil" by an inward law 
of Justice eternal. In great and good minds, all 
thoughts are harmonious and meek; but the thoughts 
of small minds fret and strut, like puppets in a show- 
man's box. 

Taking the risk of shocking your experience, I begin 
with the affirmation, that the human mind is possessed 
of no power or function whereby to conceive or sup- 
pose things and ideas which do not essentially exist. I 
do not believe that man can fancy impossibilities. 
Every human thought begins in the essence of truth. 
And yet, on either side of this mighty river of curren- 
tal truth, you will find the noxious weeds of diminution 
or of exaggeration. In all inferior stages of human 

DO O 

growth, you will observe persons born with proclivities 
either for diminishing or else for exaggerating things, 
which produce ideas. Dimiuishers are called sceptics ; 
the exaggerators, idealists. The former dwell in facts ; 
the latter in principles. Those unjustly termed "scep- 
tics" believe only in the Finite — in things cognizable 
by means of the senses ; while believers are sceptics in 
matters of fact, and concern themselves only with the 
Infinite — in ideas of the illimitable and boundless. 
Error so called is to be found, in large or infinitesimal 
proportions, on these two sides of Life. Each mind 



QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS. 11 

starts .from the central depot, and rides to directly 
opposite extremities of the Universe. 

"What men term " Imagination," I deem the mind's 
power " to body forth (prophetically) the forms of 
things unknown" — things, which live inherently in the 
constitution of the soul, but which may not have met 
their corresponding symbols in the external world. 
The idealist entertains primarily the church and the 
state in his mind. Picture and statue existed first in 
the artist's mind. In the mechanic's mind, the first 
railroad was laid, the first steam-engine built. There 
was, therefore, a time when church and state, statue 
and picture, railroads and locomotives, were simple 
unsymbolized Ideas. The sceptics (the men of the 
finite or facts) stigmatized them " Imaginations." 
Many a merchant mourned, with contemptuous pity, 
over the steamboat fancies of John Fitch and Hobert 
Fulton! The first steamboat was built and launched 
and propelled up and down the broad rivers of Re- 
flection in John Fitch's, and more particularly in 
Fulton's mind. Time was when this steam-phantom 
excited the ridicule of sensuous minds. But do you 
say this phantom has not come into practical life? If 
so, I reply that the most extravagant imaginations of 
Fulton arc surpassed by the commonest engines of the 
workshops. You must not accuse me of scepticism. 



12 THE PHILOSOPHY OF 

but rather look within, and condemn yourselves. I 
doubt what the world believes, in many tilings, because 
I behold so much which I cannot doubt. 

If I were to classify the three departments of human 
thought, I should say that Man is an Indefinite world, 
situated between the Finite and the Infinite — or that 
there are three worlds in which his thoughts may eter- 
nally roam and be gratified. Man is to himself the 
Indefinite sphere ; and thus " all our knowledge is our- 
selves to know." This is the only knowledge that can 
humble the mind ; it is the knowing to a certainty that 
we arc ignorant. Thus, before self-knowledge we 
reverently bow ; as in the presence of some God both 
strange and undefmable. But pride comes in with the 
outward, finite sciences. Give a man to feel that he 
knows the science of the stars, Astronomy, and forth- 
with he straightens his spine when before his fellow- 
men. Give him to know the science of the earth, 
Geology ; or the science of quantities, Mathematics ; or 
the science of qualities, Chemistry ; or the science of 
solids and surfaces, Geometry; and straightway he 
becomes the child of Vanity and Ambition. Especially 
is this true in minds which only know the fragmentary 
facts of these sciences — a sort of " smattering " infor- 
mation — such as floats upon the surface of modern 
newspapers and periodic literature; but, mingle with 



QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS. 13 

these sciences the fundamental principles of self-knowl- 
edge, and yon humble the mind in reverence before the 
God of its being, and a true humility is inevitable. 
We may ask, " Why does self-knowledge or wisdom so 
alter the current of man's feelings ? " Because it opens 
to the soul two great overwhelming worlds of being, 
not visible in the Finite sphere, viz., the Indefinite, 
which is himself, and the Infinite, to which he feels 
himself instinctively and eternally related — the private 
wonder of each mind. 

Let the curtain be but partially raised which has so 
long hung between his present and his future, and 
Man sees himself as an unsolved problem. And here 
begins an infinite series of questions and answers. 
Man stands, before his brother Man, with questions. 
Each one discovers in himself a desire to know ; hence 
the hundreds of thousands of millions of billions of 
trillions of questions which swarm the fields of human 
experience. The mind asks questions, orally and in 
silence, because it is itself a world of interrogation ; 
but, when we tell all, it is found to be no less a world 
of answers at once simple, fearful, wonderful, satisfying. 

The questions of man, in regard to his Infinite rela- 
tions, have built monuments of useless theology. 
Poems and precepts and bibles have been written to 
answer these ever-rising questions. Cathedrals and 



14 THE nULOSOPIIY OF 

churches have arisen, to sound the replies in hundreds 
of ears at once. The infinite has been interrogated ; 
but lesser worlds have alone returned answers. 

And so methinks it will ever be. The Infinite will 
never answer the finite; except through its never- 
changing channels of consciousness. If a man can ask 
a profound question, there is a power latent in his 
nature notless able to reply; that is to say, the ability 
rightly to put a question presupposes the ability rightly 
to answer it — even as all spiritual desires are inward 
assurances of ultimate satisfaction. 

When faithful memory shows me the feeble linea- 
ments of my early experience, as an interior being, I 
quickly recall the kind words and questions that were 
pronounced in my awakened ear. My soul had slept 
in childish ignorance till then. Questions only of the 
common sort — such as people use in plainest modes of 
thought — were familiar to my ear and tongue. But 
what wondrous words came to my lips, in answer, when 
I heard — " Jackson ! what do you see ? " The high 
unfolding of Infinite truth seemed to flash athwart the 
horizon of my awakened perceptions. No sunbeams of 
spiritual light ever gilded the heavenly hills more ten- 
derly, than did these truths irradiate my mental sky. 
But I realized nothing till I heard the question. No 



QUESTIONS AND ANSWEES. 15 

power was given me to answer then. But from that 
day to this, I have labored to tell the outer world what 
the inner world tells me! 

And now, if I may be permitted still to speak of 
myself, I affirm, that whether I am a benefit or a 
penalty to you remains with you to decide. In yon lies 
the power to determine the question of profit or loss. 
Steam and stars are valuable, or not, as you learn the 
art of putting to them the right questions, and procur- 
ing from them the best practical replies. You may 
ask steam, " What can you do?" It answers, " Clothe 
me in an armor of steel and iron, give me a boat to 
push, a mill to drive, or a train to draw, with a skilful 
hand to hold my reins, and I will show what I can do ! " 

But how long did steam go unquestioned ? For mil- 
lions of years it pla} T ed, in the foolishness of imbecility 
before the dreamy eyes of men — never answering a 
question, because a question was never put to it. x\sk 
the stars, " What can you tell us, or do ? " And they 
answer, " Study us, and we will tell you of the immeas- 
urable magnitude of God's own glorious temple ! Ask 
us truly, and we will tell you of gravitation, and the 
laws of tides, of light and heat, of the seasons, of pro- 
sperity, of summer and winter, and seed-time and har- 
vest ; all of which you may write down in your alma- 
nacs, and sell them to the poor in purse and in spirit, 



16 THE PIIILOSOPIIY OF 

who can find neither time nor comprehension to study 
at our school." 

What I desire is, to impress you with the law 
of questions, so that evermore you will treat every- 
thing as if it could curse or bless, in accordance with 
the use made of it. 'Tis said, " The commonest mind 
is full of thoughts, some worthy of the rarest; and 
could it see them fairly writ, would wonder at its 
wealth." Yon tree says nothing, unless questioned. 
It imparts its best truths when best interrogated. To 
the dog it is only an object which, in running across 
the garden, he must avoid. To the intelligent botanist, 
it tells great chapters of secrets. To the untutored 
Indian, it is good, or " no good," according to the fruit 
it bears. To the poet, it prophesies of beauty and 
truth. It is to him a beguiling bower of deep feeling, 
like a pure woman's heart ; the type of joys to come, 
and the harbinger of sorrows too deep for words. 

I may say that it is the main purpose of existence to 
tempt forth, by pure and appropriate questions, the 
great thoughts that lie buried in the mental essence. 
Every system of education, not based on this principle, 
is irksome to youth, because it is essentially erroneous 
and fundamentally unadapted. A child is never ready 
for knowledge till its soul is moved to put questions ; 
then comes the period to try the teacher, for only he is 



QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS. 17 

fit to teach who answers like a child, and ean put fresh 
questions to tempt forth the child's intuition and expand 
its native endowments. 

It is impossible to teach all children by the same 
methods. Souls are blessings, or not, as we conform our 
methods to the temperaments in which we find them. 
The multiplication table delights your son ; but your 
daughter is made to fancy a mental oath, when it comes 
her turn to learn it But the right questions open her 
soul to itself. What a charmed world it is ! In a mo- 
ment, her soul leaps over whole years of being ; her 
eyes are opened, and she feels wise as the fabled Eve. 
Nor is this self-knowledge an evil. It will tell us where 
we are naked — destitute of wisdom and harmony — and 
inform us of the methods of life, winch bring the soul's 
true Eden. 

Among the Jews it was a custom, derived from 
Egyptian jurisprudence, that every child should be 
taught the Jewish history and laws. In conformity 
with this method, the son of Joseph and Mary was taken 
to the temple of law, physic, and divinity. It is said that 
he* was then only twelve years of age. lie went to have 
his name enrolled among the males of the nation. It 
was also the custom in those days that the lawyers, 
ministers of justice, Sunday-schoolteachers, and doctors 
of divinity, should ask tide young boys certain histor- 



18 THE PHILOSOPHY OF 

ical, legal, and religious questions, in order to make 
sure of patriotism and orthodoxy. 

Joshua" seemed to satisfy all the professors save the 
" doctors of divinity," who were astonished and con- 
founded by the profundity of his answers ! lie mani- 
fested the dialect of intuition — a fact, as much owing to 
the effect of being questioned as to the hidden excel- 
lence which sustained the responses. Yea, it is said that 
the catechumen and doctors were astonished at the an- 
swers which they elicited from Joshua ! And modern 
teachers think that only a God-sent and a God-inspired 
being could do it. One cannot but regret the omission, 
on the part of historians, of questions put and replies re- 
ceived. Because, if doctors of divinity in the days of 
Joshua were no better enlightened concerning spiritual 
principles than the same class of our century, we cannot 
but conclude that the" doctors" were greatly astonished 
a long time before the " profound " was reached. 

I think they must have been astounded, and, perhaps, 
instructed, by the courageous announcement of his re- 
formatory disposition and spiritual mission ; not less by 
his utterance of inbred wisdom and intuitive knowledge, 
entirely natural to his organization, but far in advance 
of boys of his age and limited education. In the mean- 

* Jesus is the Greek for the Hebrew word " Joshua." 



QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS. 19 

time let us not forget, that it was all elicited by the put- 
ting of appropriate questions. 

Questions do not always imply a moving of the lips, 
and a sound upon the ear. Every man is a mark of in- 
terrogation ! His existence summons thought. 

In the Harmonia you will find this motto — " Sponta- 
neous and profound questions are living representatives 
of internal desires ; but to obtain and enjoy those pure 
and beautiful responses, which are intrinsically eleva- 
ting and eternal, the inquirer must consult, not super- 
ficial and popular authorities, but the everlasting and 
unchangeable teachings of Nature, Heason, and Intui- 
tion." When I first wrote this, I did not comprehend 
it. But now I see that every part of a human be- 
ing is a question. It asks, " Whence ? " " What ? " 
"Whither?" "What our origin?" "What are we ? " 
" What destination? " The bibles and churches are yet 
monopolizing these questions, and patenting the an- 
swers. But we are not to consult superficial authority ; 
we must find the answers in the sphere where the ques- 
tions originated. And yet we cannot work for our- 
selves, except by proxy. No man can answer himself, 
though he can satisfy his brother. On this principle, 
" shoemakers' wives and blacksmiths' horses go unshod." 
Physicians, when sick, need physicians. It will not 
always be thus. Men will be more self-containing 



20 THE PHILOSOPHY OF 

when better cultivated ; or, when they know how to 
use things and ideas, without the discount of diminu- 
tions and exaggerations — wherein we find error, so 
called, and the superficialities of our pilgrimage. 

If you will read the circumstance of the world-re- 
nowned " Sermon on the Mount," you will observe that 
the preacher " opened his mouth, and taught," as if he 
was answering questions. The multitude followed him. 
They were asking for his replies to thoughts in them- 
selves. Each man was a question ; an organic interrog- 
atory ! Had they been so many sheep or cows, do you 
suppose that his soul would have felt questioned. His 
best words are responses to questions put to him. 

The most important question, in all the record, was 
put by Pilate. After interrogating Jesus on the sub- 
ject of his kingship, etc., Pilate asked, "What is 
Truth ? " The account stated that, " when he had said 
this, he went out." Therefore, it has ever since re- 
mained an open question ! We must regret, for the 
sake of mankind, that Pilate did not procure a reply. 
What a vast world of dogmatism it would have pre- 
vented t Catholic and Protestant priests have patent 
replies, fixed as words of Fate. What a mass of theo- 
logical conjecture rests upon this omission on the part 
of Pilate I And besides, the world is left in scepticism 
as to the kind of truth the Ruler referred to ; legal ? 



QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS. 21 

historical ? geological ? or theological ? Since the ques- 
tion was not answered by Jesus, every soul should then 
consider itself questioned, and reply as best it can. 

Great mountains of gold are far less valuable to 
mankind than the discovery, that the power to put a 
question presupposes and guarantees the power no less 
to answer it. I affirm that Pilate possessed the power 
to answer his own interrogatory. But, as it is a law of 
Nature that the acorn shall precede the oak, even so, 
and by virtue of the same law, do questions ofttimes 
long precede their answers. If a soul can summon no 
power to satisfy its questionings to-day, or during this 
generation, nor yet in the next hundred years, the time 
will none the less surely come when it may do so 
with ease — and not only so, but realize an ability to ask 
for greater knowledge and higher wisdom ; to find 
which, the mind will consume the hours of eternity as 
they roll round the wheel, and continue thus its happy 
progression toward the unattainable Infinite. 

" What is Truth ? " asked Pilate. Now it depends en- 
tirely on his meaning as to whether he could himself an- 
swer in one hour, in one year, in five years, or in a mil- 
lion! If he meant all Truth — scientific, philosophical, 
theological, and spiritual — he then, through the central- 
ity of his own individual consciousness, presented his 
question to the Infinite, and will be able to reply, item 



22 THE PHILOSOPHY OF 

by item, stratum by stratum, as he ascends the unfold- 
ing spheres of the illimitable Future. 

Because, if he meant all truth, he then had asked an 
eternal question ; and the answer, through his own soul, 
could come in a period no less interminable. And yet, 
as, from his undeveloped state, he % could not have meant 
all truth, (for only a God could intelligently put a 
question so profound,) therefore, I affirm that he will 
find many answers — each of which, at the time, may 
seem to his soul to be the ultimatum of satisfaction — 
at which he will rest a brief period, enjoying the 
answers ; but presently the ability comes to put ques- 
tions yet more profound, in other directions of being ; 
and thus it is, by a method of spontaneous inward pro- 
pulsion, his soul, ever unfolding in the grace of life, 
progresses through interminable series of degrees of 
Wisdom and Knowledge! 

For myself I say that the reverence of my soul is 
deeply affected by questions put to Jesus — for I doubt 
wdiether anything else could have so impressively 
tempted forth the rich excess of spiritual beauty which 
characterized his responses. Plato felt questioned by 
all mankind. And so he answers, " All things are for 
the sake of the good ; and the good is the cause of 
everything beautiful." And the world, in some cul- 
tured parts, felt so charmed with the Greek's Wisdom, 



QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS. 23 

it returned a compliment — " If Jove should descend to 
the earth, he would speak in the style of Plato." 

Plato felt the world's needs, felt its questions, and 
gave his life to render the service thus demanded of his 
opulent nature. It hath been said, " he kindled a tire 
so truly in the centre of life, that we see the sphere 
illuminated, and can distinguish poles, equator, and 
lines of latitude, every arc and node; a theory so 
averaged, so modulated, that you would say, the winds 
had swept through this rhythmic-structure, and not that 
it was the brief extempore blotting of one short-lived 
scribe." The purity and truth of an answer depends 
upon the quality of the question. " A soft answer 
turneth away wrath," it is true ; but a soft reply can be 
made only by souls who feel their charity questioned. 

Each man is capable of rendering high service to 
humanity ; but whether humanity gets it from him, or 
the reverse, will ever remain for the world to decide. 
Man is able to work. But he must be made to see the 
occupation which is good for all; or being born for 
action of some sort, he will perforin the inharmonious 
part. Enslave a man, and, by virtue of his degradation, 
he will in return enslave you. Do injustice, and you 
will suffer it ; for questions and answers, like cause and 
effect, essentially correspond. 

Xow here am I, acting faithfully in accordance with 



Z4 THE PHILOSOPHY OF 

my personalities and its boundaries. If you know how 
to use me, as my nature prescribes, I shall then yield 
you a permanent benefit. But, if in ignorance of your- 
self (and, therefore, of me), you do not put me to the 
best service, you will soon feel the penalty. This 
penalty, nevertheless, is a benefit, though of a negative 
character. It will not teach you a truth, but of an 
error committed ; and teach the method of escape. 
The tree is true to itself ; and I to myself. If I know 
enough of -myself to put the best questions to that tree, 
it will yield me the best lessons of benefit — lessons 
which the woodman does not get, nor the bird that 
sings upon its boughs, neither the squirrel that feeds 
upon its fruit. Yet there remains to the woodman, to 
the bird, and to the squirrel, other benefits in the tree — 
to obtain which I have neither the disposition nor the 
power. Thus, the same tree, when tempted forth, will 
serve and benefit a hundred individualities, a hundred 
forms of matter ; the earth, the water, the atmosphere, 
bird, quadruped, and mankind. Its power to do this, 
however, lies not so much in itself as in its inter- 
rogators. 

" I will go into the desert and dwell among ruins," 
said Volney ; " and will interrogate ancient monuments 
on the wisdom of past times." He asked the past for 
its history of evil in the world ; and it answered him. 



QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS. 25 

If you perceive not my meaning — because of the new 
dress my thoughts may have assumed — you will never- 
theless get something. What I mean to mean you may 
not see, but you are very likely to see what I do not ; 
and }'Ou might impart to me, in the next hour, that 
which I have now no power to communicate. The 
pathway to one Truth, perhaps, I can now show you. 
But, while on this path myself, in the service of point- 
ing out the road to you, I may suddenly learn a new 
truth, admonishing that this is not the road for me to 
travel. Or, I may behold additional reasons why I 
should not fail to pursue it, and reasons, also, why you 
should not. I define, to your minds, my position. But 
if you cannot see my reasons, nor the legitimacy of my 
position, in you lie the power and the liberty to go on 
without me. And as the new path breaks upon you, 
and you fail not to best employ all you have and meet, 
even so may you obtain bread from what, in the dis- 
tance, appeared to me to be stones ; and health, also, 
from what I call poison and disease. The cicuta-plant 
yields honey to the bee, who instinctively knows how to 
question it ; to man it would yield bitterness and death. 
The bee questions the flower, and man the bee ; which 
answers through geometrical avenues — bleeding forth 
at every pore the life-elements of sweetness. 

Let each, therefore, be himself ; but if he would help 



26 THE PIIILOSOPnT OF 

his condition, he must use his neighbor well ; for, at 
most, we can help ourselves only by proxy. The web 
of life is to be spun. And man, like the spider and 
silk-worm, must work from within ! The benefits of 
Individualism, so manifold, so complicate, escape the 
consciousness of those who depend, too constantly, upon 
externals for sympathy and support. That we are ben- 
efited by everything, without, and within, in proportion 
to the justice with which we treat it, is not yet practi- 
cally recognized on earth. I say, justice; because it is 
superior to all the humanities — to sympathy, benevo- 
lence, philanthropy ; for Justice comprehends all — and 
is, therefore, the highest manifestation of true Religion ! 

Yon aged oak — solitary, stalwart, and grand — lias not 
yet declared itself to the world ; because, simply, the 
world has not known how to question it. Opulent with 
great quantities and qualities of matter — self-defended 
against storm and tempest by its oion strength and 
armor — it stands a stranger yet to man. It is a stranger 
to itself not less ! Who knows what else it can do, be- 
side making ships, sideboards, or kindling the cottager's 
lire? It remains yet to be questioned. Where is the 
man who knows enough of himself to do it ? 

What there is hidden in the recesses of my being, I 
have no power as yet to divulge. I yearn for the right 
man to come, from any degree of life, to put to my soul 



QTJESTIONS AND ANSWERS. 27 

the right questions. For then I shall answer him with 
thought and articulation, at once so profound and beau- 
tiful, so truthful and elevating, I know not when I 
could recover from self -astonishment. But in all this 
arcanum of " questions and answers," there are truths 
in man which only a woman can elicit ; and powers in 
woman that come forth only at the mandate of mascu- 
linity. 

Innumerable are the persons from whom ascends the 
mournful cry — " Alas ! not one can understand me — 
by no congenial spirit am I comprehended ! " This 
insupportable agony, this ungratified desire for appre- 
ciation, in sensitive and cultured natures, attains unto 
speech. They spend precious moments in inward acts 
of self -commiseration. They weep when relief is nigh ; 
but, sometimes, the feeling becomes too deep for tears ; 
then silence, like the drapery of night, throws its mantle 
over, and folds in, the soul — saying, " Peace,. be still." 
They sing the saddest songs. They write poetry, per- 
vaded with an indefinite grief. But persevering in 
expression, they gain at last a result, of all ends the 
most important, but which the mind, in its ignorance 
of nature and adaptations, know not how or where to 
seek. For thus it is that the sorrows of the " Five 
Points " have arisen into literature. The degradations 
of imbruted men, and the execrations of abandoned 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF 






women, have been translated into the English language. 
And the plaintive cry of " Hot Com " is heard in fash- 
ionable parlors — uttered by pet-lambs in magnificent 
folds, whose shepherds are Wall-street bankers, perhaps, 
and South-street commercialists. Thus the heretofore 
unappreciated see the pathway leading at last to justice 
and satisfaction — obtaining a literary notoriety which 
promises popularity in the fulness of days. 

Self-comprehension, however, though always to be 
aimed after, will ever remain above the capacity of the 
comprehending faculty. Even so, Reason cannot tell 
what Reason is ; but what it is not, that it can easily 
decide. What men call Conscience — the summary con- 
clusion of all the functions of Mind — I term Justice. 
But what justice is, no man's mind can determine ; but 
an injustice, this the faculty quickly decides. " What 
God is," says a German thinker, "I know not; but 
what he is not, that I know." Forever will this fact in 
man's nature — this power of positives to determine only 
negatives — keep his soul folded in more or less of mys- 
tery. Man is the Indefinite world ; because subsisting 
between things and ideas, between the finite and the 
infinite. 

Many philosophers, becoming wearied with the ever- 
recurring contradictions and paradoxes of human nature 
— acting foolishly when wisdom was appropriate, mani- 



QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS. 29 

festing insufferable weakness when strength was de- 
manded — have allowed themselves to grow cynical and 
sarcastic. The human world disgusts them ; and so, 
like Diogenes, they spend their days in petulant misan- 
thropy. Mr. Emerson says — " I knew a philosopher, 
who was accustomed to sum up his experience of human 
nature, in saying — ' Mankind is a damned rascal.' " 
Perhaps it was a gush of this impatience of human par- 
adoxes which caused the Nazarene to whip the "money- 
changers ;" not less to denounce many as " serpents " 
and " vipers " worthy only of Gehennal damnation. 

Man is ever the indefinite — but he must be questioned. 
No sooner do we suppose ourselves fully analyzed and 
finally classified by some new phrenology or anthro- 
pology, than we suddenly break out in a fresh spot 
— provoking ourselves and our dogmatizers equally — 
with new mental exhibitions ; with new characteristics, 
for which no science, no religion, no bible has provided 
laws and adequate explanations. And so, in spite of all 
arbritary restrictions and canonical injunctions against 
self-reliance, we are peremptorily thrown back upon our 
own centre — to begin another series of questions and 
answers toward self-comprehension. Of course, one 
may say, the history of man remains the same, in sub- 
stance, from age to age : that no new law is developed 
from him ; but there is, I think, one thing in which 



30 THE PHILOSOPHY OF 

mankind continue homogeneous — viz. : in the immuta- 
bility of their changeability. It is this law of Unity, in 
Variety, which we yearn to understand. 

But the great end to gain is, the converting of every- 
thing into a benefit. On yonder mountain's side, you 
behold the joyous brook leaping down to nestle in the lap 
of the- valley — like a fleet, happy child, hastening to play 
with the grasses and flowers on the plains beneath ! 
Was it made for play only ? Can it do nothing more ? 
Yea. The thirsting cattle may drink great draughts of 
strength from its rippling bosom ; and the meadow-lark, 
seeing itself reflected, may sing all the sweeter to the 
children of men. And is that all ? Can no one bring 
out of it a still greater service ? Verily, it can accommo- 
date man deeply, if man knows how to help it to bestow 
accommodation. The mill can be driven by that stream ; 
it can work and play at the same moment ; suffering no 
impoverishment thereby. But it knows not its own 
power ; it waits for interrogation. 

The Blackstone river, beginning in Massachusetts and 
flowing through a portion of Rhode Island, hastened 
along, babbling and silent by turns, for thousand of cen- 
turies. How long it flowed iu solitude ! But the red 
man's canoe rode on its surface ; yet the aborigine 
knew not the river. At last, the white man came, who 
know how to put the idle tide to service. He built an 



QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS. 31 

obstruction across its course. As the human mind stops 
at an interrogation, so did this strong dam arrest the 
waters. As a sequence, the tide set back, spreading over 
adjacent margins ; and then, with the power of accumu- 
lated weight, ran vigorously through the new channel 
made for it, against an intercepting wheel, which, turn- 
ing steadily upon its axis, imparted motion to the mech- 
anism of a Cotton Mill. Did that river know before 
its power to bless ? Could it set itself to the work ? 
What it was, it knew not. Its power was concealed 
from itself, and rolled and flowed indolently. But now, 
this playful, musical, beautiful stream supports no less 
than one hundred and thirty great cotton, woollen, and 
other factories ! It gives drink to the thirsty cattle no 
less ; it waters the meadows no less ; it talks and dashes 
along as light and as free as it did centuries ago ; is as 
beautiful to the eye as when but " sweet sixteen ; " gam- 
bols as cheerfully over rocky terraces ; leaps as fearlessly 
from height to depth as ever it did ; and yet, because it 
has been appropriately questioned, it turns something like 
two million spools and spindles between Worcester and 
Providence— ^.comprising about fifty miles only of its 
original play-ground.* While in idleness, it had no in- 

* " So great have been the improvements effected in spinning- 
machinery, that one man can attend to 1,038 spindles, each spinning 
three hanks, or 8,264 hanks per day; so that, as compared with the 
operations of the most expert spinner in Hindustan, the American 
operator can perform the work of oOO men." 



32 THE PHILOSOPHY OF 

telligent admirers ; for such, by nature's law, is the fate 
of all drones. But now, it is the chief delight of hun- 
dreds of working-men and working- women, who, though 
they may not stop the haste of labor to gratefully re- 
member the service by the river rendered, yet derive 
their sustenance from year to year, by waiting obediently 
upon wheels and spindles which buzz and whirl at the 
gentle, but imperious, pressure of its ever-flowing tides. 

Does it suffer loss ? Does the sun lose light by paint- 
ing daguerreotypes ? Does the soul lose life by think- 
ing. 

Nay ! The stream flows on and widens into the 
greater river, bearing up ships and steamers, and still 
onward to the ocean. Thence it ascends in vapor, 
forms numberless fleecy clouds, fills the artist's soul 
with love and lessons, and, in the fresh forms of beauty, 
returns, perhaps, to its original source. It may thus live 
over and over again its useful and beautiful life. And 
so, it works in its waywardness — and plays with powers 
it knew not — bright as the birthday of flowers, thread- 
ing its way through the feathered grasses and along ver- 
nal, verdant plains ; boisterous in places as the Dela 
ware ; in spots as beautiful as the Hudson ; and almost 
more industrious than the famous Merrimack ! 

So, too, is man idle — till the world interrogates his 
nature. By putting the right questions at the right 



QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS. 33 

time, and in the right manner, a human mind may be 
measurably revealed to itself. In this art lie all true 
methods of education. 

" Know thyself," said Pope, " presume not God to 
scan." There is rich wisdom in such counsel. Because, 
to be intelligently introduced to one's own soul is to 
go reverently into the presence of all the God the soul 
can ever realize. Than this there is no deeper, no 
wider, no higher revelation. But the soul cannot ques- 
tion itself ! Man must put this question to Nature ; he 
must be free to do this ; and free, not less, to answer 
questions which Nature puts to him. No trammelled 
and bigoted sectarian, heathen or Christian, can be free 
to do either ; and so such offend the law and take the 
penalty of injustice ; causing meanwhile world-wide 
suffering through the ties of inseparable sympathies. 

All past catechisms contain questions put by the world, 
while yet in its teens, and may therefore be pardoned 
by this maturer era. 

But what questions now appear? Who shall ask? 
"Who shall answer ? We must have no more dogmatism ! 
Come, then, ye children of experience, let us hear your 
words : speak ! and the world will accept all the truth 
ye can give. Let the right voice sound, and lo ! like 
the musical throbbings of the peacefully rolling sea, 
our spiritual enjoyments will swell — extend and expand, 



34 THE PHILOSOPHY OF 

waving and surging forward — till angels in higher 
worlds receive refreshment and grow more beautiful, 
even as we drink from wells which spring out of the 
dark and dreary earth. 

The law of questions and answers regulates the world. 
In all things we behold a law of association : what does 
it mean? Insect, bird, and quadruped, progressively 
recreate each other — forming, in their conjunctions, a 
brotherhood: why do they exist ? What bible answers ? 
Where shall we go for wisdom % Sanguinary wars, sep- 
arating souls from the bodies of men, scourging fami- 
lies and nations : why do they exist ? What and where 
is God ? What are his laws ? Are we immortal ? If 
so, what for ? If not, why not ? Who shall answer % 

" Eureka!" Man must ooth desire and learn to an- 
swer every question he finds the power to ask ! Herein 
lies the cause of all progressive development. 

Hunger asks man, " Do yon know how to satisf}^ me % " 
and man tills the ground. Fatigue asks man, '•' Do you 
know the means of rest ? " and man invents beds and 
furniture. Love asks him a question: and he seeks 
companions. Wisdom asks : and man looks towards the 
Infinite. Science asks: and man studies the Finite. 
Philosophy asks : and man studies the Indefinite. Rea- 
son asks : and man seeks to familiarize himself with 
himself — to harmonize the other two worlds. Human- 



QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS. do 

itt asks : and Humanity, ever hopeful, ever promising 
replies, "Be joyful, O ye dwellers of earth, for 

THERE SHALL BE AN ERA OF UNIVERSAL PEACE AND 
UNITY ! " 



THE ASSEMBLY'S SHORTER CATECHISM, REVISED 
AM) CORRECTED. 



Eveet century that rolls over the earth adds another 
volume to the world's Library. Each page presents a 
kind of daguerreotype impression of some event, acci- 
dent, circumstance, "or development. And each person 
is certain to write something ; the high and the low, 
alike, are authors. Every individual thing also — the 
tree, the bird, the flower, the animal, the fountain, the 
sun, the star — is a faithful contributor to the pages of 
this mystic cohesive Record. We transfer ourselves to 
the life of Posterity, physically and spiritually, as hill- 
side streamlets flow onward to create the Ocean. Hence, 
every person has an immortal influence ; even in this, 
the embryological sphere of human existence. On turn- 
ing over and perusing the recently-written pages of this 
century — especially those contributed by the advancing 
portions of our race — I observe the frequent recurrence 
of important questions, physical, social, moral, scientific, 
spiritual. These questions conclusively prove that the 
earth's inhabitants experience dissatisfaction with the 



37 

answers given by revered sources of instruction. Theo- 
logical monopolies, if out of time, antagonize individual 
progress ; scientific discoveries should not outnumber 
advancements in theology and religion ; an opinion 
which, within five years, has acquired prodigious strength 
and unparalleled popularity. Encouraged, therefore, 
by the kind reception which several great improvements 
in the Arts and Sciences have met with among able and 
fearless classes, and believing such minds will welcome 
theological improvements not less hospitably, I proceed 
to introduce a revised and corrected edition of the 
world-renowned Assembly's Shorter Catechism ; and it 
is sincerely hoped that the alterations and emendations 
here presented, although similar to the Westminster 
method of asking questions and giving answers, will not 
be adjudged uncharitably, nor pronounced by any theo- 
logico-monopolist to be an actionable infringement upon 
its- predecessor. Beginning, then, with the best and 
most peaceful understandings between the past and the 
present, I venture the presentation of responses, to Im- 
portant Questions — in accordance, of course, with my 
conception of teachings evolved by the Harmonial 
Philosophy. 



What is the chief end of man ? 

Man's chief end, in shortest speech, is endless pro- 



38 

gression ; to do good, be happy, get wisdom, and aspire 
calmly toward perfection ; to become harmonious even 
as his Father-God and Mother-Nature are harmonious. 

"What rule have Father-God and Mother-Nature given to direct us 
how we may obtain these ends ? 

Our Heavenly Parents have given us a rule in the 
spiritual constitution of our being ; also, in the conform- 
ations of man's outer form ; and on a still broader scale, 
in the constitution and lyrical harmony of the surround- 
ing Universe. 

What is this rule called ? 

By Sensualists — Pleasure ; by Religionists — Scrip- 
ture ; by Harmonialists — Progression. 

Who are most correct ? 

Those who, regardless of outward authority, seek Pro- 
gression. 

Why do you think them most correct ? 

Because sensualists or materialists aspire after Pleas- 
ure as an end / Religionists aspire after Truth, as it is 
in favorite creeds and formularies ; Harmonialists as- 
pire after eternal life and endless improvement; of 
which Pleasure and Truth are the incidental develop- 
ments and ever-healing concomitants. 

How many persons are there in the Godhead ? 

There are in the Godhead and Godbody (that is to 
say, in the imperishable Mansions of Father-God and 



REVISED AND CORRECTED. 39 

Mother-Nature) all the persons that were ever developed 
on any star in the firmament or on the earth beneath ; 
all men, all spirits, all angels, all archangels and ser- 
aphs, which people the immeasurable spheres of life and 
animation ; for we live and move and have our being in 
the Divine Existence, " whose body Nature is, and God 
the soul." 

What are the decrees of God ? 

The decrees of God are the eternal laws of his vital 
S3 T stem ; written upon the constitution of Man ; and re- 
published whenever a Child is born. 

What are they called ? 

According to recent discoveries we term them Asso- 
ciation, Progression, Development. 

Do these decrees — the laws of Association, Progression, and Devel- 
opment — apply to Individual Man ? 

Yes, but only in that stupendous application of ideas 

which recognizes man as a microcosmical part of the 

Universal System. 

What, then, are those decrees of God which concern the immediate 
government and salvation of man ? 

All animated beings, especially mankind, are regu- 
lated by fixed laws— -physical, organic, spiritual — the 
first determines the relation of the body to every other 
object, its temperature, its elasticity, density, etc. ; the 
second determines the relation of the organic or vital 
requirements of the body, and regulates the supply to 



40 

the demand ; the third determines the relation of the 
soul in its friendships and sympathies for things both 
seen and unseen, temporal and eternal ; and, as implied 
by this admirable code of decrees, the happiness or 
misery of individual man is proportionate always and 
everywhere, before as well as after death, to his obedi- 
ence to, or transgression of, these divine mandates. 

How can we ascertain these laws ? 

By the employment of our intellectual and social and 
spiritual faculties. Each law, and its positive require- 
ments, can be perceived only by those parts or faculties 
or functions which it (the law) is designed to govern and 
harmonize with the system of creation without. 

What do you mean by this ? 

I mean that the body, by means of its sympathetic 
nerve, is itself qualified to perceive the relation subsist- 
ing between it and all other objects and bodies ; that 
the intellectual faculties, by treasuring up such observa- 
tions, create a science of gravitation, juxtaposition, etc. ; 
on this principle, of like seeing and comprehending 
like, the organic and vital functions perceive the chem- 
istry of foods, fluids, odors, flavors, sounds, sights, colors, 
and the like ; the social and affectional principles ap- 
prehend the nature and valuation of friendship, child- 
hood, conjugalism, and universal identification and unity 
of human interests and attractions ; and lastly, the spir- 



REVISED AND CORRECTED. 41 

itual faculties on the upper brain put forth their mar- 
vellous far-comprehending powers toward those stupen- 
dous, beautiful, vast, attractive, sublime, divine, celes- 
tial, and supernal Realities which exist rudimentally on 
earth but fully bloomed and blossomed out in the higher 
Homes of the Soul. Human beings, therefore, may be 
physically happy and socially miserable, or vice versa, 
may en joy the spiritual and suffer in the organal de- 
partment of existence, according as they conform to or 
transgress the law which is designed to control and gov- 
ern such department. Thus, each part of man's nature 
hath its immutable regulating principle, which is of ne- 
cessity the source of beautiful benefits or of painful 
penalties, a cause of happiness or of misery, just as the 
possessor may by his life decide. 

How does G-od execute his decrees ? 

By living in accordance with the unchangeable prin- 
ciples of his own physical and mental being ; by uni- 
versalizing his spirit, and making the humblest things 
examples of his love and wisdom. 

What is the work of creation ? 

There is no creation ; but formation perpetual. 

How did God create man? 

God did not create man. Man came from Nature's 
matrix as a child from its mother's womb ; a Product of 



42 the assembly's shorter catechism,. 

Nature ; and, like a child, looks to her for all sustenance, 
entertainment, and instruction. 

What are God's works of providence ? 

All things in the universe ; nothing is especially de- 
signed ; everything comes forth in its natural order and 
discreet degree; according to laws which are without 
variableness. 

Did our first parents continue in the state wherein they were cre- 
ated ? 

Our first parents, when they discovered that they 
were endowed with intellectual perceptions and physical 
necessities, began to bestir themselves in accordance 
with instincts of discovery and self-preservation. They 
began to learn, to suffer, to subdue. Marriage and 
mechanism were found to be inseparable ; as with the 
little birds which are compelled to learn how to build 
nests for their young. On this principle, though upon 
an exceedingly low scale of existence, our first parents 
slowly advanced from a state of ignorance to compar- 
ative enlightenment; yet they were the veriest barbar- 
ians when compared with any portion of the Anglo- 
Saxon race. 

Did our first parents never fall from innocence ? 

They could not, because they never stood erect. They 
began physically and mentally in the lowest part of the 
valley of human existence; hence, as there was no 



REVISED AND CORRECTED. 43 

" deeper depth," a fall was impossible. Yet they have 
stumbled often in ascending the hill of progressive de- 
velopment. 

How can you prove this assertion ? 

By the blessed and even infallible scriptures. 

What scriptures do you refer to ? 

The scriptures which the true eternal God has written. 
The whole universe consists of sentient beings, each of 
whom is an express word of the Supreme Being. Na- 
ture is a book whose every sentence proves the ascension 
of man from a small point of life ; the first productions 
of Nature are inferior to her every subsequent unfolding. 

What is sin ? 

Sin is a name for excess; a mark missed by man in 
his development ; a ditch, into which, when with ignor- 
ance or passion blind, we stumble for a season. 

What is the sequence ? 

TVo get pervaded, perhaps saturated, with its pollu- 
tions. The deeper we plunge, the more polluted ; so 
exceedingly soiled at last, that we dread to fmd our- 
selves in daylight, We therefore (mentally) go into 
outer darkness ; shirking the sun and gaze of honest 
eyes, because of our debasement. 

Did all mankind fall in the first transgression ? 

Nature, through all her parts, is regulated by the 



44 

same changeless principles — one being the law of pro- 
gressive improvement ; hence, descending from the pri- 
mal races by ordinary generation, posterity is benefited, 
not injured, by primitive misdirections; for so great 
and powerful and just is the Divine Spirit, that all evil 
is overcome by good, -and one of the original mistakes 
of our remotest ancestors has proved more valuable as 
a means of victorious achievement in righteousness than 
a million acts of passive rectitude or negative goodness. 
Because such acts, like man's primitive misdirections, 
are not the result of voluntary affection or intelligent 
choice, based on adequate experience — but mistakes and 
acts, on the contrary, stumbled upon and kicked out of 
the sands of Progress, even as the precious diamond was 
thrown up into open day and proverbial celebrity by 
the undesi^nino- toe of a wandering savage — in which 
there exists neither merit nor demerit, but discovery, 
nevertheless, and benefits innumerable. 

Into what state did the fall bring- all mankind ? 

What is theologically called a " fall " was in truth the 
greatest benefit to mankind ; it developed physical in- 
dustry, beautified the soil, and improved the climate, 
exercised the intellectual faculties, evoked the senti- 
ment of association, and awakened the spiritual affinities ; 
in short, according to this oriental myth, it drove the 
Aristocratic Family from velvet lawns, from paths lux- 



REVISED AND CORRECTED. 45 

uriously ornamented with flowery carpets, from the 
presence of ceaseless perfumery, from rustic chairs not 
the product of pleasurable invention and victorious toil, 
from natural-tufted sofas 'neath the graceful arches of 
magnificent trees never planted or treated by human 
hands, from the lascivious pleasing of the lute-like song 
of paradisaical birds, from the flowing of rivers whose 
indolent powers had never pressed the ponderous wheel 
of a cotton-factory or the pioneer's saw and grist mill ; 
therefore, the fall was in fact the first step up that hill 
which leads to manly enterprise and womanly independ- 
ence — the democratic road to useful Knowledge. 

Wherein consists the sinfulness of that state whereinto man en- 
tered? 

The sinfulness of that original revolution in the habits 
and manners of the Adamic Aristocracy, consists in the 
fact that, according to the account, the act was not a 
result of pre-dctermination, but of mere " idle curiosity " 
to taste, ad libitum, all fruit indigenous to that sunny 
soil ; in a word, the sin (or pity) consists in the procras- 
tination, in the lack of industry and self-sustaining ef- 
fort, which characterized the reputed first pair, and 
which they have transmitted to all labor-dishonoring 
portions of mankind. 

What is the misery of that state whereinto man entered ? 
The misery to idlers and aristocrats consists in the 
discovery that all true success and permanent distinc- 



46 the assembly's shorter catechism. 

tion depend upon sincere active individual Enterprise ; 
regulated by principles of justice, truth, love to man, 
reverence of Father-God, and temperance in all things 
— a misery familiar only to those who desire to live on 
" the labor of others," who desire riches and authority 
even at the expense of the Poor, who love Notoriety and 
Popularity devotionally, and not Truth for its own sake. 

Did God leave all mankind to perish in this state ? 

Blasphemous question ! How can an omnipresent and 
unchangeable God withdraw his spirit from man, 
whose every drop of soul-life is derived from the eternal 
Fountain ! 

Did God elect some to everlasting life, and others to endless de- 
struction ? 

God is the Father of the spirits of All men. Hence 
all men have their entire existence in the one omnipres- 
ent Spirit of Deity. Think you that the Whole can be 
happy when many of its parts are miserable? Human 
souls are detached individualized personifications of the 
Deific Nature and Essence ; and the imperfection or 
destruction of a single detachment would, like the loss 
of a wheel from a perfect watch, impair the goodness 
and derange the infinite precision of the Universal 
Mechanism. 

Who is the Redeemer of Man ? 

If by the word " redemption " you mean improve- 
ment in all things natural and spiritual, then man's 



REVISED AND CORRECTED. 47 

redeemer is Wisdom — the beautiful Son of a holy nup- 
tial blending of Love and Knowledge ; the soul's " Christ- 
principle " — a natural prophet, a prince of peace, a 
spiritual priest, a God-inspired king of that kingdom 
which is within you. 

How can Wisdom, being the sum of human attributes, save man ? 

By opening the soul to a perception of things spirit- 
ual, angelic, celestial, and heavenly. Like a peach 
which treasures up the perfections of the entire tree 
which produced it, so Wisdom attracts together all the 
beauties of the affections of both Love and Knowledge 
(as explained in 4th vol. of Great Harmonia), and thus 
opens the soul's portals to Infinite Love, to Eternal 
Truth, to Father-God, to Mother-Nature. 

What benefits do believers receive from Wisdom at their death ? 

Pure Wisdom, having opened to the soul a glorious 
consciousness of the existence of a better and less rudi- 
mental world Beyond, brings a great peace into the 
mind and surrounds the believer's bed with many spirits 
and angels. 

What benefits do believers receive from Wisdom at the resurrection ? 

At the resurrection, believers, being raised up imme- 
diately after the heart ceases to throb on earth, shall be 
acknowledged in the Spirit-Land by welcoming hosts 
of friends, and thus, unlike disbelievers, be made direct 



48 the assembly's shorter catechism, 

partakers of that full enjoyment which the harmonious 
only know. 

What is the duty which God requires of man ? 

The one true eternal Father-God requires of man 
faithfulness to the dictates of his highest attractions. 
(See questions on "Life.") To do right from a sense of 
duty, or obligation, or fear, as most people permit them- 
selves to do, is far below that exalted motive which 
prompts noble natures to do good and speak the truth 
to gratify their attractions. 

What are man's highest attractions V 

Man's best and highest attractions take their rise in 
the superior part of the brain called the wisdom-region ; 
that is, in the organs of benevolence, veneration, con- 
scientiousness, firmness, self-respect, hope, sublimity, 
ideality, marvellousness, and love of Truth. 

What did God at first reveal to man for the rule of his obedience ? 

God, by living in man's soul from the very beginning, 
revealed to his religious or wisdom faculties this law — 
" to be carnally-minded is death ; to be spiritually-mind- 
ed is life and peace." 

How did God reveal this law ? 

God revealed this law, first, in the common relations 
subsisting between man and man ; second, in the " still 
small voice" of integral perception of justice, called 
Intuition ; third, by the various spirits and angels who 



REVISED AND CORRECTED. 49 

presided and still continue to watch lovingly over tlie 
earth, and who sometimes spoke in visions to young men, 
in dreams to women, and through commandments to re- 
ligious chieftains. ■ » 

Where is the moral law summarily comprehended ? 

The moral law, which signifies the immutable princi- 
ple of Justice everywhere manifested in the superlative 
Constitution of Father-God and Mother-Nature, is 
summed up and most beautifully expressed in the body 
and soul of Man. 

Where is the moral law truly visible ? 

The moral law is fully and practically exhibited and 
fulfilled wherever a human being has attained entire 
Harmony — to the fulness of the stature of a perfect 
Man in Love and wisdom — by obedience to his own di- 
vinely-originated and supernally -authenticated twelve 
commandments. 

What is the sum of the twelve commandments ? 

The sum of the twelve commandments is, to do good 
and harmonious works, for the redemption and ennoble- 
ment of your fellow-men. Such works to be purely 
" good " must be wrought regardless of age, sex, com- 
plexion, belief, or reputation; because the Human Race 
is but One Family — all members of one body — in which 
there is neither Jew nor Gentile, Xazarene nor Greek, 
Ethiopian nor Anglo-Saxon. 



50 THE ASSEMBLY'S SHORTER CATECHISM, 

What is the preface to the twelve commandments? 
The preface to the twelve commandments is in these 
words : " Write me as one who loves his fellow-men." 

What does the preface to the twelve commandments teach us ? 

The preface to the twelve commandments teacheth 
us, that because man did not originate himself, but 
came into existence involuntarily as the Child of Father- 
God and Mother-Nature, therefore to love and improve 
and render happy the pathway of human beings is the 
best and highest and most acceptable homage the soul 
can pay to the " Great First Cause," which was before 
all things and in which all things exist. 

What is the first commandment ? 

The first commandment is : " Obey the normal require- 
ment of Self-Love ; " which is the Central principle of 



What is required in the first commandment ? 

The first commandment requireth us to know and ac- 
knowledge the wisdom of Father-God by perceiving 
this law of Self-Love to be the foundation of all indi- 
vidual rights and liberties. 

What is forbidden in the first commandment ? 

The first commandment forbiddeth both the extreme 
and the inverted practice of this central iVif'ection ; the 
penalty of disobedience being both immediate and re- 



REVISED AND CORRECTED. 51 

mote, and, while persisted in, never detached from the 
transgressor. 

What is extreme and inverted practice ? 

Extreme Self-Love goes time-serving, fortune-hunting 
— full of baseness, being at once egotistical, illiberal, 
mercenary ; while inverted, it produces opposite effects 
— not nobleness and magnanimity, but self-abnegation, 
lukewarm carelessness, and personal filthiness, as ex- 
plained in the Great Harmonia. 

What is the second commandment ? 

The second commandment is : " Obey the law of Con- 
jugal Love with all thy heart and with all thy mind ;" 
for out of the operations of this principle springeth the 
myriad generations of men, spirits, and angels. 

What is required in the second commandment ? 

The second commandment requireth the receiving 
and the keeping of all pure and spiritualizing concep- 
tions of the true marriage relation ; the central concep- 
tion being, that Man and Woman are the twofold mani- 
festation of One existence, each acting in the other as a 
Messiah throughout eternal worlds. 

What is forbidden in the second commandment ? 

The second commandment forbiddeth the prostitu- 
tions of Extremism and the pollutions of Inversionism ; 
also the telling of all anecdotes, and the reading of on- 



52 the assembly's shorter catechism, 

clean books, which tend to breed unchaste emotions in 
the soul. 

What are the causes of conjugal misfortune ? 

The causes are, first, ignorance of the use and holi- 
ness of marriage ; second, a lack of spiritual culture 
among those who, in other respects, are intelligent and 
exemplary persons ; third, a transitional fact incident to 
the slow growth of the ages. 

What is the third commandment ? 

The third commandment is : " Obey the law of Pa- 
rental Love with a pure and reverent devotion ; " for the 
foundation of the world is Childhood ; and the happi- 
ness of future spheres bubbles out of terrestrial foun- 
tains. 

What is required in the third commandment ? 

The third commandment requireth that parents 
should respect the rights of the babe before birth by 
abstaining from all blood-love indulgence ; also, after its 
introduction to objective life, that parents and guardians 
open many liberties to offspring, and teach the awak- 
ening faculties quietly and only as they ask questions ; 
until the season has arrived when physical industry and 
mental discipline become both natural and necessary ; 
then the Ilarmonial Institution should go on with the 
requisite process of harmonizing the body and mind of 
the young. 



REVISED AND CORRECTED. 53 

What is forbidden in the third commandment ? 

The third commandment forbiddeth all inharmonious 
examples by parents in the presence of the young : 
euch as intemperance, the use of tobacco, the excessive 
use of meat, the habitual drinking of tea or coffee, vul- 
gar habits, profane words, lack of punctuality in prom- 
ises, deceptive or evasive answers, expressions of pre- 
judices against neighbors, reiteration of slanders, op- 
position to persons who differ on religious questions ; 
also every species of irreverence which could generate 
laxity of moral principle or blindness to the Divine Ex- 
istence. 

What is the fourth commandment ? 

The fourth commandment is : " Obey the law of Fra- 
ternal Love with all thy soul and with all thy under- 
standing ; " for this is that principle which binds man 
to man in the vast brotherhood of races and nations. 

What is required in the fourth commandment ? 

The fourth commandment rcquireth the exercise of 
that ennobling sentiment of fraternal " charity, which 
thinketh no evil ; " as in thine own household so also in 
the habitations of thy neighbor; because, to the truly 
gifted in Wisdom, there is nothing unclean nor unrighte- 
ous absolutely, except in the sense of mis-adaptation or 
substitution of lawG and conditions ; such, for example, 
as a man adapting himself to habits of body which are 



54 



just only to some animal, or substituting for the govern- 
ment of civilized races despotic and warful laws which 
belong in justice only to savage and barbaric genera- 
tions. 

What is forbidden in the fourth commandment ? 

The fourth commandment forbiddeth all transgres- 
sions of the principle of Fraternal Love. Therefore, 
all theological distinctions are forbiddden. 

What examples can be given of mischievous theological distinc- 
tions ? 

There are many such examples in ecclesiastical his- 
tory ; and yet more in the blood-stained history of be- 
wildered lmmanitv. The Old Testament recognizes 
Masters and Slaves. Kings and Subjects are presented 
in bold distinction. I hear insulting and unfraternal 
words concerning plebeians and patricians. I hear 
merciless sermons concerning the good and the evil, the 
sheep and the goats, the elect and the reprobated, still 
resounding from pulpits as cardinal portions of the gos- 
pel. The genius of this doctrine is utterly opposed to 
the fraternal welfare and peaceful progress of man- 
kind. The fraternal interests of the world are divided 
by it ; every man against his neighbor. The unity of 
history is marred by its promulgation. It retards the 
growth of the universal sentiment — " Ye are all breth- 
ren." All human history must be regarded as the 



REVISED AND CORRECTED. 55 

growth of a Tree — first, the little germ ; then, its sub- 
soil expansion ; then, the going forth of diverse roots 
from the germinal point ; then, the ascension of a tufted 
column from the centre ; then, the appearance of thorns 
on this body, and sometimes unsightly excrescences ; 
then, the reproduction of the underground roots, with 
all their beautiful eccentricities, in the form of over- 
ground branches; then, an infinite reduplication of 
these in the shape of twigs starting out of branches ; 
and lastly, buds of promise break forth on each extrem- 
ity — prophesying and proclaiming the approach of 
blossoms, and from blossoms, Fruit. So should the his- 
tory of mankind be studied ; no complaint of evil, no 
pulpit scolding, no canonical profanity. One time the 
Eace brings forth only thorns, at other times dry limbs 
without beauty, then beauty without energy, but all in 
proper season ; and, in due course of this progression, 
the whole is begemmed with an infinite fruition — all 
pure, all noble, all Harmonial ! 

What is the fifth commandment ? 

The fifth commandment is : " Obey the law of Filial 
Love with all the spontaneousness of thy grateful spirit ; " 
for it is this beautiful principle which links inferior to 
superior, animals to the human world, and mankind to 
the interior and spiritual. 



56 the assembly's shorter catechism, 

What is required by the fifth commandment ? 

The fifth commandment requireth the honoring of 
" thy father and thy mother " because they were instru- 
mental in giving you an eternal individualized exist- 
ence ! Gratitude is next to generosity. But this Filial 
Law does not require a child to obey a foolish or intem- 
perate parent.; nor slaves to yield themselves blindly to 
the dictum of self-constituted masters, who appropriate 
rights and assigns only duties to those who serve them ; 
for no human being is obligated by any natural (or di- 
vine) law to sacrifice individual " rights " in order to per- 
form " duties " imposed by those arbitrarily vested with 
authority. 

What is forbidden in the fifth commandment ? 

The fifth commandment forbiddeth the neglectinc- of 
this Filial homage which is due to every person, idea, or 
truth, that giveth evidence of superiority and innate 
righteousness. All contemptuous treatment of a hu- 
man being — all scorning of those who live in poverty ; 
all supercilious mannerisms toward those who labor in 
field, workshop, or kitchen ; all trampling upon the 
rights of others ; all mocking and jeering and hissing 
and hooting at that which (without due investigation) is 
pronounced prejudicial to morals and religion ; all irrev- 
erence and politico-sectarianism manifested toward the 
inhabitants of foreign countries and principalities, either 



REVISED AND CORRECTED. 57 

in thought or speech ; finally, and in short, all voluntary 
transgressions of this Filial Principle in reference to man 
on earth, to spirits in the heaven, to angels in the 
spheres, to seraphs in the constellations, or to Father-God 
in the nuptial embrace of Mother-Nature — is positively 
forbidden now and forever. 

What results will follow obedience to tlie fifth commandment ? 

The results of obedience will flow like crystal waters 
through the garden of the soul. The effects are beauti- 
ful and saving like deathless flowers shedding immortal 
fragrance o'er the path of life — Gratitude, Generosity, 
Patience, Devotion, Moderation, Justice ! — these are the 
jewels which beautify the true child of Nature, having 
the power to bring long life and prosperity. 

What is the sixth commandment ? 

The sixth commandment is : " Obey the law of Uni- 
versal Love with the total ingenuousness of thy inmost 
nature ; " for it is this uncircumscribed principle which 
circulates and throbs through all the veins and arteries 
of Humanity. 

What is required by the sixth commandment ? 

The sixth commandment requireth each individual to 
identify his peace and prosperity and happiness with 
that of every other. Isolated being and unaided doing 
are not compatible with true humanity and permanent 
progression. Universal Love is founded in the vivifying 



58 

essence of universal existence, and sliould regulate the 
highest and noblest impulses operating in the broad do- 
main of Human Nature. 

What is forbidden in the sixth commandment ? 

The sixth commandment forbiddeth all selfishness and 
all isolated strife for wealth and power. Monopolistic 
enterprises and competitive industry are forbidden by 
virtue of this principle. By a philosophical analysis of 
what are termed man's vices and passions, I discover 
that, with few exceptions, the worst and most discordant 
manifestations of character are engendered and fortified 
in the strong entrenchments of political, ecclesiastical, 
and social Institutions. 

How did these institutions originate ? 

These tyrannical arbitrary institutions (which despo- 
tize mankind and develop subversive effects) originated 
from man's ignorance, and not from man's depravity ; 
although ignorance gives rise to a multitude of ungov- 
ernable propensities which Wisdom alone can calm and 
beautify. It should be steadily remembered that Man 
(and the whole race also) is a progressive Being. His 
life and deeds at different periods of the world, like 
hands on a dial, indicate the order and degree of his 
progression. And " regeneration " is a perpetual phe- 
nomenon of human existence. The elevation and ex- 
pansion of man's affections into Universal Love, is the 



REVISED AND CORRECTED. 59 

perfect fruition of the tree of Life; the result of no 
miraculous " change of heart," but of perennial growth 
in love and wisdom. When this commandment is 
obeyed, the various races will shake hands through 
mutual organizations of interests, and a stupendous har- 
monial temple will overarch the world. 

What is the seventh commandment ? 

The seventh commandment is : " Obey the gospel of 
use" — for this is the first manifestation of the principle 
of Wisdom. 

What is required by the seventh commandment ? 

The seventh commandment requireth us to use all 
things which minister to the growth, ennoblement, and 
happiness of our physical and mental being. There is not 
a blade of grass, nor a grain of sand, but may be set in 
accord with the key-note of man's need s. Subj ective wis- 
dom seeks objective existence ; giving the artist an intelli- 
gent impulse toward the appropriation of colors, and the 
beauty-lover a desire to embellish his habitation with 
picturesque results. The man of uses, whose mind is 
devoted thereto, is a man of effects and details ; the ex- 
act sciences and constructive arts are outworks of this 
law. When we render useful any element in nature — 
when we work to fill a useful position in the living 
world, when we convert a misfortune into a means of 
success, when we set in serviceable operation a physical 



60 

or intellectual gift, when we triumph over a fault by- 
compelling it to wield a good influence, when we stand 
god-like over the volcano of rash and uncontrollable 
affection and roll back the burning tide of consuming 
passion at the very moment when the fire and smoke of 
prostitution and profanation overshadow the citadel of 
inward purity — then do we obey the seventh command- 
ment. 

What is forbidden in the seventh commandment ? 

The seventh commandment f orbiddeth the desecration 
of any natural object by misapplication; also the prof- 
anation of any function or faculty by misemployment. 
For example, using a cow or ahorse, a woman or a man, 
to do work in harness which electro-magnetic forces and 
steam or caloric could do quicker and better ; employ- 
ing the hand to strike a brother ; using the tongue to 
moisten tobacco or to give free expression to inelegant 
words ; using the lips to pray to God or to imprint the 
betrayer's kiss ; using memory as a trunk for that un- 
culled and wasteful rubbish which may accumulate in 
the journey of life; using the knowing faculties to outwit 
and overreach a neighbor ; employing the poetic impulses 
as angels of light to engulf a fellow-being in conjugal 
abandonment; using the powers of clairvoyance for 
selfish ends and mercenary enterprises ; all this, and in- 
finitely more, is forbidden in the seventh commandment. 



REVISED AND COERECTED. 61 

What is the eighth commandment ? 

The eighth commandment is : " Obey the gospel of 
Justice" — which is the second manifestation of the 
principle of Wisdom. 

What is required in the eighth commandment ? 

The eighth commandment requireth of ns the " lawful 
procuring and furthering of the wealth and outward es- 
tate of ourselves and others ; " also requireth every one 
to seek to establish an equilibrium of interest and duty, 
so that no one will be called to do that which is not in 
accord with the highest justice. For example, the law- 
yer is mostly interested in human misunderstandings, 
the physician in human sicknesses, the clergyman in 
human subjection to outward institutional authority ; 
while, at the same time, the lawyer's duty is for peace on 
earth, the physician's for health on earth, and the clergy- 
man's for individual harmony and self-legislative sover- 
eignty. Hence our present social relations generate 
every species of injustice ; which, while perpetuated 
from necessity, is by all acknowledged to be unwelcome. 

What is forbidden in the eighth commandment ? 

The eighth commandment forbiddeth whatsoever may 
infringe upon the rights and liberties of others. O 
Earth ! thrice beautiful thou, and fit for the young 
spirit's early unfolding, when men love justice and live 
it. Justice ! the highest form of true Eeligion, enriched 



62 

with angel harmonies, with sleepless universal penetra- 
tive eyes, looking straight into the motives, seeing the 
thought before the deed, the substance through the 
shadow, rending the false and flimsy veil that men 
secretly hang between themselves and the world with- 
out ! Upon the now unconscious leaves of the eternal 
tree of Life within, this majestic principle writes down 
every thought, word, deed, of the undying spirit. 

What is the ninth commandment ? 

The ninth commandment is : " Obey the gospel of 
Power" — which is the third manifestation of the prin- 
ciple of Wisdom. 

What is required in the ninth commandment ? 

The ninth commandment require th the energetic em- 
ployment of both body and mind, for human good and 
happiness. "What Socrates did in the market; what 
Plato taught in his regal robes to metaphysical students ; 
what Aristotle witnessed of atom, world, time, space, 
eternity, infinity ; whatever else was seen or said or 
prophesied of by the succession of royal Thinkers — by 
the Lockes, Humes, Xants, Bacons, Eewtons, Cuviers, 
Goethes, Spinosas, Fouriers, Humboldts, Parkers, Em- 
ersons — is possible to thee, yes, to thee, incredulous 
Reader ! Even greater works than these shall ye do ! 
Human life is eternal ; and power, to accomplish the 



REVISED AND COEEECTED. 63 

loftiest flight, is in thee hidden ; therefore, believe now 
and be saved. 

What is forbidden in the ninth commandment ? 

The ninth commandment forbiddeth physical idle- 
ness, mental debility, and disproportionate development 
of the heart and head ; also it condemneth continued over- 
exertion for the gratification and enrichment of aristo- 
crats. 

What is the tenth commandment ? 

The tenth commandment is: "Obey the whisperings 
of the spirit of true Beauty " — which is the fourth mani- 
festation of the principle of Wisdom. 

What is required in the tenth commandment ? 

The tenth commandment requireth us to harmonize 
our loves and mental desires throughout ; and thus cre- 
ate that Beauty, full of symmetry and regular conforma- 
tion, which will prove a joy eternal. 

What is Beauty ? 

Objective beauty is that which acts through the eye 
upon, and excites pleasure in, the spiritual tempera- 
ment. (See 4th vol. of Great Ilarmonia.) We need 
not roam through vast domains of rich grandeur, nor 
fathom the deep mines of essences bodiless or abstrac- 
tions metaphysical, to solve this simple question. True 



64 

beauty is that, without or within, which yields pleasure 
and awakens gratitude. 

What did the ancients say of Beauty ? 

It is said that Socrates called Beauty a short-lived 
tyranny ; Plato, a privilege of nature ; Theophrastus, a 
silent cheat; Theocritus, a delightful prejudice ; Car- 
neades, a solitary kingdom ,' Domitian said, that nothing 
was more grateful ; Aristotle, that Beauty was better than 
all the letters of recommendation in the world ; Homer, 
that it was a glorious gift of Nature ; Ovid calls it a fa- 
vor bestowed by the gods ; Emerson, that Beauty is the 
mark God sets on virtue ; and a French proverb, that 
Beauty, unaccompanied by virtue, is as a flower without 
perfume. 

What definition can you give of Beauty ? 

I define Beauty to be the incarnation of three active 
principles — Use, Justice, Power, — the coronation of 
whatsoever is serviceable, harmonious, energetic. He 
who would be truly beautiful must not be deformed 
with ostentation. 

What ib forbidden in the tenth commandment ? 

The teuth commandment forbiddeth ail physical hab- 
its which might impair the most agreeable proportion 
of form or feature ; and much more, every mental dis- 
position that could deface the richer Beauty with which 
Father-God hath adorned the inner life. " In deeds and 



REVISED AND CORRECTED. 65 

in motives untold by the tongue — by chisel uncarved, 
by poets unsung — the Beautiful lives in the depths of 
the soul." 

What is particularly forbidden in this commandment ? 

The tenth commandment forbiddeth* all turbulency 
of spirit which in a few years wrinkles the beautiful 
brow ; also, all animality which destroys grace of bone, 
gives prominence to the joints, and dissipates the fresh- 
ness of youth from the teeth, eyes, hair, and skin (see 
4th vol. of Great TIarmonia) ; all discontentment with 
conditions which are incidental to an embryo existence, 
" envying or grieving at the good of our neighbor, and 
all inordinate affections for anything that is his." But 
Nature allots to no man more than is sufficient for a 
subsistence and guaranty against the intrusions of Pov- 
erty, physical and mental ; all else, though strictly law- 
ful according to existing constructions of individual 
rights, is nothing less than an appropriation of our 
neighbor's property and depriving a brother of the 
means of happiness. 

What are we to conclude from this ? 

We are to conclude and resolve at once, that in this 
tenth commandment is forbidden all social or civil laws 

* The reader will pardon this dictatorial word on the ground that 
it is employed in conformity to the Shorter Catechism, and not in any 
sectarian sense so repugnant to the author. 



66 the assembly's shorter catechism, 

that infringe upon the Beauty of Universal Justice. 
Furthermore, all religions which make a virtue of cru- 
cifying the organ of Ideality and the normal require- 
ments of the spiritual temperament. Beautiful external 
objects — pictures, statuary, flowers, ornaments; beau- 
tiful external odors — dek'cate perfumes, violet, mignon- 
ette, geranium, cascarilla ; beautiful external sounds — 
songs, musical instrumentation, words of love, bells of 
liberty, the rounding cadences of Wisdom's words ; 
beautiful external tastes — all berries and fruit which 
grow in sunlight and please the tongue ; and thus, 
through all the vast, profound, and mystic simplicities 
of every day's sensuous existence, the tenth command- 
ment forbiddeth every civil circumstance or religious 
obligation which could mar the symmetrical develop- 
ment of that Inner Beauty, which is mighty as Truth 
and essential to happiness as heaven itself. 
What is the eleventh commandment ? 

The eleventh commandment is : " Obey the gospel of 
Aspiration " — which is the fifth manifestation of the 
principle of Wisdom. 

What is required in the eleventh commandment ? 

The eleventh commandment requireth us to acknowl- 
edge, in our daily walk and conversation, our grateful 
consciousness of whatsoever is interior and supernal — 
our relation thereto and dependence thereon — which is 



REVISED AND CORRECTED. 67 

at once a source of imperishable pleasure and a cause 
of growth in rich domains of glorious meditation ; 
vaster far than fields of intellectual culture, deeper than 
oceans of theologic lore, sweeter than a thousand gar- 
dens of paradisaical flowers, diviner than the songs of 
the flowing Mornia, pure as the perfect Love. 

What is Aspiration ? 

Aspiration, as the word implies, is a spiritual reaching 
upward — a prayer for providential aid, a longing after 
things and truths superior — an attraction toward that 
which is in store for the soul. 

What is forbidden in the eleventh commandment ? 

The eleventh commandment forbiddeth all ingrati- 
tude; all habits of negligence in the wisdom faculties. 
Also, all irreverence toward that which is truly useful, 
just, energetic, beautiful — not merely in the sight of the 
body and its senses, but toward whatsoever adminis- 
tereth lovingly and wisely to the highest faculties ; all 
abuse of that which thus lendeth wings to imagination, 
and expandeth the capabilities of the inmost under- 
standing 

"What is the twelfth commandment ? 

The twelfth commandment is : " Obey the gospel of 
Harmony " — which is the sixth manifestation of the 
"Wisdom principle. 



What is required in the twelfth commandment ? 

The twelfth commandment, which is the sum of all 
Wisdom, requireth ns to be and do that which will ren- 
der our fellow-men the best service and the longest 
happiness. 

What is forbidden in the twelfth commandment ? 

The twelfth commandment forbiddeth every system 
of government and all religions, which retard man- 
kind's progress toward IIaemonial Unity. 

Is any man able perfectly to keep the commandments of God ? 

No man alone and unbefriended, unsupported by the 
counsel and magnetism of personages superior, can keep 
all these commandments ; but a firm desire, a sincere 
aspiration, to do so, will bring to his aid the friendship 
of angels, and help to centerize his personal capabilities. 

Is angelic aid the principal and most needful thing ? 

No ; the principal condition, favorable to individual 
progress, is external harmony ; not only in bodily health, 
but in the several relations demanded by the several 
loves. A married woman, to be happy, aside from her 
own natural peacefulness, requireth a good and intelli- 
gent companion. No parlor is harmonious with discord 
in the kitchen. Spiritual righteousness and happiness 
are impossible while the outward conditions of man's 
social life antagonize. Oh, that churchmen could see 
more of Time in their benevolent enterprises! The 



REVISED AND CORRECTED. 69 

affairs of eternal worlds can be more easily compre- 
hended and controlled by their inhabitants. Man's 
works of salvation and redemption should be adapted to 
this world. 

What explanation can you give for the absence of social harmony 
among Christians ? 

It is of the utmost importance that we understand the 
true theory of reform ; at the same time, also, the rea- 
son why the Church system does not succeed. The 
Church professes to be adequately armed to battle with 
sin, and provided with all the true instruments of so- 
cial Reform. It professes to have the stupendous 
" Word " on its side — not only so, but the Almighty 
with it. In fact, all the persons of the God-head are 
claimed as both prime movers and co-laborers in the 
vast field of human redemption. 

What result does this church association bring forward ? 
The whole supernatural system has been well nigh 
two thousand years converting fifty millions of Protes- 
tants into religious Sectarians. But these fifty millions 
are, after all, far from being reformed and harmonized. 
Many of them still own slaves, sustain the Fugitive 
Slave Law, and go strong against the dethronement of 
King Superstition. These church members and church 
supporters make no better merchants ; as tradesmen 
they are not a particle more honest than an honest 



70 

Doubter ; they make no kinder or wiser " Bosses " to 
journeymen and apprentices ; they are no better than, 
and ofttimes not so good as, the so-called sceptical and 
unregenerated. 

How do you explain this fact ? 

It is because the whole church theory of Heform is 
unnatural ; it is logical from a mythological founda- 
tion ; and overlooks time in its aims for eternity. All 
Christians candidly confess that it is very %mnatural to 
man's natural heart to be a bible Christian. Hence a 
foreign or supernatural aid is invoked. At length they 
suppose they obtain such aid, then they become "Chris- 
tians " — that is to say, they become unnatural — but, per- 
haps, not a particle more pure, more honest, more humane. 
It would be a curious circumstance, should the affidavits 
of one hundred apprentices be taken, fifty with church 
members as bosses, and fift} r whose masters make no 
profession of faith in any form of sectarian religion. 
The question is : " Which class is the most cheerful, 
kind, honest, humane?" I am fully satisfied that we 
should get the most favorable report from the so-called 
unregenerated. It is, alas ! too well known, by many a 
poor boy and orphan-girl, how insupportably severe is 
the domestic discipline of church Deacons and praying 
Laymen. They make the most tyrannical masters ; the 
most invincible slaveholders ; the most cruel parents ; 



REVISED AND CORRECTED. 71 

the most ignorant foes to science ; the stoutest friends 
of bigotry ; and the abettors of narrow-mindedness. 

Why does the Christian church fail ? 

The church fails, because it looks to a wrong Source 
for its aid. It expects to reform the world by preach- 
ing the Love — and the Hate — of an omnipotent Jehovah; 
with the necessity of faith in the virtue of that blood 
tragedy called " Jesus Christ and him crucified." The 
world can be restrained thus, but not reformed. The 
sectarian harness may be worn by thousands; they may 
work in the traces of duty, as kindly and docile as 
horses used to the gearing ; but at the end of life, what 
are they ? Are they unfolded in Love and Wisdom ? 
Are they attractive representatives of the divine Life ? 
Kay: they terminate their earthly voyage ofttimes as 
much in bondage — as little developed — as when they 
began. The greatest temporal achievement of a Protes- 
tant Christian is, to triumph over the fear of dying — an 
accomplishment which the warrior, the Hindoo, the 
Turk, the Roman Catholic, possesses to an eminent de- 
gree, reposing upon his bed of death with a serene res- 
ignation! 

Is love the best cause of reform ? 

Human love, by itself, is no source of Harmony ; yet, 
in Love do we find that which is good and perfect. 
Your warm heart may be overflowing with Love, but 



72 the assembly's shorter catechism 



are you, therefore, a harmonial man ? No : the most 
loving and enthusiastic person, not regulated by intelli- 
gence, is perhaps the most impulsive and discordant. 
Wisdom must throw his temporizing influence o'er Love 
before the soul can become self -poised and upright in 
character. 

What shall be said of modern church -religion ? 

A correspondent of the Southern Literary Herald, 
after attending service in Dr. Hawks' church, in New 
York, very aptly replies : " The luxurious pews, every- 
where filled with well-dressed and comfortably-looking 
people, were little suggestive of the trials and sufferings 
of the Christians of an earlier day, who met upon the 
open downs, or beneath the leafless oaks of the wintry 
forest, to lift up their voices of praise and supplication 
to God. . . We could not help thinking that the minds 
of very many of the congregation were upon the next 
day's operations in Wall street, rather than upon the 
service, and that the liturgy would have been responded 
to with greater unction, if among its deprecatory clauses 
there had been this little petition — From all losses by 
land or by water, from broken banks and bad invest- 
ments, from false policies and a fall in flour, Good 
Lord deliver us!" Modern Religion is courted so 
long as she resides in costly temples, gets a scholastic 
presentation, and is fashionable. 



REVISED AND CORRECTED. 73 

Are all transgressions of the twelve commandments equally 
heinous ? 

Some transgressions in themselves, and by reason of 
several external aggravations, are more injurious than 
others. 

What are the lesser evils ? 

The lesser evils are those not accomplished by volun- 
tary yielding to temptation ; but which the spirit suffers 
as incidental or inevitable to surrounding circumstances. 

What does every sin deserve ? 

Every sin deserves immediate and total destruction. 

What does the victim or sinner deserve ? 

The sinner deserves the love and blessing of God 
ineffably more than the self-suctaining and well-devel- 
oped ; for the wise and happy need not a physician, but 
those only who are sick and unfortunate. 

What does God require of us, that we may escape his wrath and 
curse due to us for sin ? 

The Bible-god, who is not the eternal Companion of 
Mother-Nature, requireth of us faith in Jesus Christ. 
What is faith in Jesus Christ ? 

This will be answered, in extenso, in another chapter 
of important questions. 

^What is repentance unto life ? 

Repentance unto life is a resolution taken in the Wis- 
dom faculties, renouncing a personal evil habit, before 



74 the assembly's shoetee catechism, 

the whole angel- world, whose aid you invoke ; a resolu- 
tion carried out practically in every subsequent act of 
your life. 

What are the outward and ordinary means whereby Christ com- 
municates to us the benefits of redemption ? 

The outward and ordinary means are, the charitable 
and wise efforts to ameliorate the condition of Mankind 
— efforts to instruct youth, to elevate the downtrodden, 
to ennoble intellect, to promote genius, to harmonize 
national interests, to create equitable industrial relations 
between the different classes, to purge existing govern- 
ments, to reform creed-born religions, to abolish servi- 
tude, to bring the Harmony of Heaven on the whole 
Earth. 

How is the " Word " made effectual to salvation ? 

If by " the word " you mean the twelve living com- 
mandments written by Father-God and Mother-Nature 
in the eternal substance of every human being, then it 
is made effectual only by virtue of a reasonable under- 
standing of its positive teachings, and conforming 
thereto with a stern love of perpetual personal righteous- 
ness. 

What is meant by personal righteousness ? 

By personal righteousness is meant the doing of what- 
soever is eight in the light of your own moral intuitions ; 
the opposite of that which you believe to* be wrong. 



REVISED AND CORRECTED. 75 

How is the " Word " to be read and heard, that it may become 
effectual to salvation ? 

If by " salvation " you mean the rescue of man from 
Ignorance and its misfortunes, then the " word " (mean- 
ing the body and soul) may be read and heard effectu- 
ally when selfishness shall be magnanimous enough to 
bring on earth a IIarmonial Brotherhood ; because 
the highest selfishness is identical with universal be- 
nevolence, " honesty is the best policy," and that which 
renders happiness permanently to one individual is a 
steadfast blessing to the whole race. 

What is true religion ? 

True religion is universal Justice — which begins at 
the centre of the individual and widens outwardly, 
wave-like and as the ocean swells, till All are clasped 
in one pure embrace of Love — predicating, thus, the 
Happiness of all upon the Harmony of each. 

What are the sacraments of this religion ? 

The sacraments of this religion are : first, personal 
cleanliness and chastity: second, a heart full of warm 
devotional Love to man and to Deity ; third, a head full 
of serene, strong, steady Wisdom ; fourth, reverence for 
the marriage relation ; fifth, the regeneration of the 
world as far as possible through little children ; sixth, 
and every humanitarian institution which promotes the 
welfare of the several working-classes. 



76 the assembly's shorter catechism, 

"What are the sacraments of the New Testament ? 

If by the " New Testament " you mean the New Dis- 
pensation, then the sacraments are : first, the Immor- 
tality of the spirits of all men ; second, the immediate 
resurrection of the soul (retaining the shape of the 
body) at death into a purer progressive world; third, the 
enjoyment of intercourse with the departed through 
several mediations. 

"What is baptism ? 

Baptism is a sacrament of the new dispensation, signi- 
fying a bathing in the rivers of Infinite Truth, which 
flow unobstructed through the boundless gardens of ex- 
istence — through the vast territories of Mind and Mat- 
ter — the imperishable Home of Father-God and Mother- 
Nature, through whose sacred labyrinths the feet of 
men may tread with steadiness, in whose depths of trans- 
lucent waters the earthly pilgrim may bathe his weary 
soul, and receive strength to ascend higher mountains 
of contemplative intelligence. 

To whom is baptism to be administered ? 

Baptism is not to be administered to any that are not 
asking for New Truths — that is, no one can receive the 
bath of progressive Ideas unless his soul seeketh to know 
Mother-Nature and to wed his life-work with her All- 
Wise Companion. 



REVISED AND CORRECTED. 77 

What is the Lord's supper ? 

The Lord's sapper is any hospitable and philanthropic 
feast, either physical or spiritual, which neither profanes 
the body nor brutifies the soul, but yieldeth enjoyment 
and awaketh gratitude. 

What is prayer ? 

Prayer is a spontaneous act of Filial Love ; the soul's 
involuntary yearning for perpetual aid ; an intuitive ac- 
knowledgment to the supernal for the fact of existence ; 
a desire for additional benefits and continued happiness. 

What is the origin of prayer ? 

The habit of formal praying originated among the 
religious sects of Egypt ; a plan for placating the ven- 
geance of angry gods, and for soliciting aid from super- 
natural beings ; to avert impending calamities, cure 
disease, and secure local prosperities. 

Does prayer influence Father-God ? 

All human history returns a negative answer; all ex- 
perience, termed special providences, yield to a diiferent 
explanation. (See 2d vol. of the Great Ilarmonia.) 

What is the legitimate effect of prayer ? 

The effect of too much reliance upon the in visible for 
aid, is, to beget weak-mindedness and unfitness for any 
great work ; no man can accomplish much who doubts 
his personal capabilities and shirks individual responsi- 
bility. 



78 THE ASSEMBLY'S SHORTER CATECHISM, 

Is there no good effect in prayer ? 

Yes ; the normal effect in prayer is twofold — first, to 
open and prepare the soul for spiritual influx and illu- 
mination — second, to attract a portion of the angel- world 
into harmony with our interior necessities. 

How would you further define prayer ? 

I would further define prayer hy affirming it to be 
natural to all theological infants, and strictly spontan- 
eous with those who, being children in the sentiment of 
religion, feel inward demands which only prayer can 
fully supply and stimulate. 

Should we pray orally ? 

True spirit-prayer, like the glory of morning dew, as- 
cends noiselessly. The answer ? that comes, welcome 
as the fall of rain, when the soul most needs nutrition. 

Is the habit of daily prayer beneficial ? 

That is not beneficial which increaseth your depend- 
ency ; which impaireth the symmetrical unfolding of a 
beautiful self -containing Manhood. Nevertheless, there 
are times of ineffable trial — when the stoutest heart, 
having struggled and battled against some terrific enemy 
to life and happiness, is forced to go beyond objective 
Nature in prayer to the Supernatural. 

Is true prayer a voluntary act ? 

Voluntary prayer is suggested by a consciousness of 
ungratified desires ; but, on the other hand, when needs 



REVISED AND CORRECTED. 79 

(more imperative than wants) announce themselves at 
the court of Reason, then the heart wells up and over- 
flows its banks in spontaneous acknowledgments to the 
hidden Source of Infinite Goodness — " God of my Fa- 
thers ! holy, just, and good ! My God ! my Father ! my 

unfailing Hope ! Whom have I in the heavens 

but Thee alone ? On earth, but Thee ; whom should I 
praise ? whom love % " 

Should little children practise prayer ? 

Little children should be taught that Father-God is a 
spirit, and they that worship him must worship him in 
spirit and in truth ; that is to sa} T , children should not 
think of a position of the body, nor of words, but of liv- 
ing good lives and doing good for goodness' sake. The 
daily recollection and exercise of this aspiration is a 
prayer " in spirit ;*' while resisting temptation, speaking 
the truth, living peacefully, washing the body, learning 
wisdom, and doing good toward other children — this is 
a prayer " in truth ;" and the Father seeketh such to 
worship him. 

Can a discordant person pray ? 

Yes ; there is no need of prayer where there is no 
temptation — no discord ; the good man's life is a prayer 
perpetual. 

Are words natural to prayerful gratitude ? 

Hannah More hath well answered : 



80 



41 Fountain of Mercy ! Whose pervading eye 
Can look within and read what passes there, 
Accept my thoughts for thanks : i" have no woi'ds. 
My soul o'er-fraught with Gratitude, injects 
The aid of Language — Lord ! behold my heart." 

When we pray should we think of a Personified-God ? 

True prayer is the result of no intellectual perception 
of persons, relations, effects, or principles ; it bursts sud- 
denly forth like a shout of joy, a cry of fear, a word of 
praise, a note of music, a shriek for help ; hence all 
scholastic lip-service in churches, like a blessing hur- 
riedly spoken by hungry mouths over a feast of fat 
things, is an inevitable profanation. Oh, how I love 
that brother and that sister — the spontaneous child of 
Father-God and Mother-Mature — who asketh for spirit- 
ual aid, the gratification of unselfish desire — 

' ' For light and strength to bear 
Our portion of the weight of care 
That crushes into dumb despair 
One half the human race ! " 

You have frequently used the terms " Father-God and Mother-Na- 
ture ; " what do you mean ? 

By the term Father-God is meant the living Fountain 
of all Causation ; by Mother-Nature is meant the Foun- 
tain of all Effectuation. 

Are these principles masculine and feminine ? 

Yes ; and the Harmonial marriage of these co-essen- 
tial and co-eternal Principles, half personified and 
wholly unalterable, was followed by prolifications innu- 



REVISED AND CORRECTED. 81 

merable — children, men, spirits, angels, in infinite orders 
and degrees of perfection — which people the countless 
worlds around, and the spirit Lands beyond ; whose un- 
fading groves never feel the blasts of adverse winds, 
whose endless avenues never lead through uncultured 
wilds, whose landscapes never weary the eye, nor exhaust 
the soul that loves the pilgrimage of Eternity ! 

How would you further define the offspring of this most holy mar- 
riage ? 

I would further define them by affirming them to be, 

first, all shapes and degrees and relations of Matter : and 

second, all forms and unfoldings and effects of Mind. 

This is the broadest general definition of Nature's 

works. 

If human beings and invisible spirits are legitimate children, do 
they not resemble their progenitors ? 

Yes ; man's body is a physiological representation of 
the physical universe, and the spiritual universe is psy- 
chologically revealed in man's mind ; therefore, the 
harmonial body bears the features of Mother-Nature, 
and the best mental organization presents the image and 
likeness of Father-God. 

What is true morality ? 

True morality is the living-out of your own ideas and 
sentiments of true religion. That man is truly and 
gloriously moral whose acts spring from the affection 



82 

of Universal Justice ; whose deeds owe their birth to a 
love of human good and happiness. 

What is fidelity ? 

Fidelity is the integrity of your soul to itself — obedi- 
ence to the angel of God within — to your best and 

highest Attractions. 

What is infidelity ? 

Infidelity is the wilful violation of that within you 
which you believe to be Truth, Justice, Righteousness. 

What is Truth ? 

Truth is that divine and eternal principle which " fills, 
bounds, connects, and equals all " — the Cause and the 
Effect of infinite Harmony — everywhere cohesive and 
at all times consistent — as in the material so also in the 
spiritual realms of Existence. 

Who is the wisest man ? 

lie is the wisest man who eomprehendeth the boun- 
daries of his own ignorance, and knoweth the art of de- 
stroying them. 

Who is the most successful man ? 

He is the most successful man who seeth the secret 
victory that ever dwelleth within any defeat which may 
follow an honest effort. 

Who is the mightiest man ? 

He is the mightiest man who can, at all time3 and 



REVISED AND CORRECTED. 83 

amid all circumstances, control the impulsions of Love 
by the voice of Wisdom. 

Who is the greatest philanthropist ? 

He is the greatest philanthropist who does Good to 
some and harm to none. 

Who is the most holy man ? 

He is most holy who never acts contrary to his high- 
est perception of Eight. 

Who is the best neighbor ? 

He is the best neighbor who regulates his private 
affections and public deeds by the principle of Distribu- 
tive Justice. 

Who is the best husband ? 

He is the best husband who, when you examine him 
by your highest attractions, hath the cleanest body and 
the purest spirit. 

Who is the most excellent father ? 

lie is the most excellent father who begets his off- 
spring through the attractions of pure unadulterated 
conjugal affection ; and who, when blest with the pres- 
ence of childhood, is at once a friend, brother, playmate, 
and teacher. 

Who is the best wife ? 

She is the best wife who, when you examine her by 
the intuitions of your highest temperament, is the sweet- 



84 the assembly's shoeter catechism, 

est girl, the truest friend, the gentlest sister, the most 
attractive woman. 

What is the law of personal progression ? 

The law of personal progression is to be found only 
in conscientious action for the benefit of others. The 
soul's strongest cardinal law is Action. When rightly 
directed, it tendeth, like a gently-flowing river, toward 
self -ennoblement and self-perfection : in deeds of good 
to mankind. 

What is a humbug 1 ? 

This scornful term is very promptly applied to any 
person, association, political party, or institution, which 
advertises to perform a certain feat or produce some 
special result, but does not accomplish it ; yet dogmati- 
cally persists, nevertheless, in affirming entire fulfil- 
ment of promises publicly made or pledges privately 
circulated. The word " Humbug " is usually given to 
a pretender, to a mountebank, or counterfeiter; and 
sometimes, to that which is neither of these, but is 
thoughtlessly prefixed to a matter because it is " new " 
and opposed to the established routine of law, physic, 
and divinity. 

Have we any examples ? 

Yes ; many political schemes and some ecclesiastical 
institutions have never redeemed promises which they 
have from time to time published in their bulletins and 



REVISED AND CORRECTED. 85 

programmes. The popular evangelical system of re- 
forming mankind by means of religious ordinances and 
canonical rituals, lias not performed a tenth part of 
what centuries ago their progenitors advertised to ac- 
complish long before the present era. 

What is Man ? 

Man is a product of all the Universe. Physiologi- 
cally — of all orders and degrees of matter : psychologi- 
cally — of all essences and properties of Mind. 

How should man be studied ? 

Man should be studied as the Epitome of Father-God 
and Mother-Nature. He may ask of his existence 
through science, through art, through music, through 
the emblems of visible creation, through anatomy, 
through physiology, through psychology, through theol- 
ogy, through philosophy, through imagination, through 
conscience, through all the elements of his heart-love, 
and through all the attributes of his Wisdom. 

What is Science ? 

Science is an intellectual perception and systematic 
classification of Facts. 

What is Art ? 

Art is the temporary beautification of ordinary ob- 
jects by the skill of human nature ; the transformation 
of lower substance into human uses and available bene- 
fits. 



86 



What is Music ? 

Music is the normal translation of mute sentiments 
into expressive sounds ; the best revelation of the celes- 
tial subtilties which animate the human soul ; the only 
language of the angel-world when discoursing of the 
Harmonies of Nature. 

What is anatomy ? 

Anatomy is a knowledge of forms and structures. 

What is physiology ? 

Physiology is a knowledge of organs and functions. 

What is psychology ? 

Psychology is a knowledge of the mental principle ; 
based upon a perception and classification of its phe- 
nomena. 

What is theology ? 

Theology is an intellectual inquiry, a conjectural 
speculation, concerning the personality and government 
of a being called " God." Modern theology is ancient 
mythology gone to seed ; a product of the poets and 
semi-philosophers of Egypt, Greece, and Home. 

What is philosophy ? 

Philosophy is a term which may be applied to all 
legitimate exercises of Reason and Intuition. (See 2d 
vol. of Great Harmonia.) I would apply this word to 
an intellectual perception of Facts, to a moral appre- 
hension of Truths, to an intuitive comprehension of 



REVISED AND CORRECTED. 87 

Principles ; embracing thus, all science, all theology, 
all religion. 

What is the reason-principle ? 

The reason-principle is the totality of love, spiritual- 
ity, intellect. Eeason is the flower of the spirit. A 
law of truth, regulating the entire existence of a man — 
physically, socially, intellectually, morally, spiritually — 
another Avord for " Wisdom," the soul's eventual Sa- 
viour. 

What is imagination ? 

Imagination is the subjective mirror of the emblems 
and images of objective Nature ; the authorized fore- 
runner of the intellect ; the chief interpreter of the sen- 
timents ; the poet-laureate of the spiritual faculties ; 
the Argus-eyed clairvoyant of the whole interior nature. 

What is the true office of imagination ? 

The true office of imagination is to probe the meta- 
physics of creation ; to give substance to shadows ; to 
discriminate between this and that, and luxuriate in 
the presence of finely-drawn distinctions ; to shape es- 
sences otherwise bodiless ; to give solidity and repre- 
sentation to invisible thoughts ; to symbolize the quality 
of an act; to individualize and give immortality to an 
adjective ; to explore mystic fields, and break the for- 
bidden seals of man's life-book ; to sing of the good 



88 the assembly's shorter catechism, 

and the true, of the pure and the free, in words at once 
sweetly human and majestically divine ; lastly, imagin- 
ation is designed to officiate evermore in transforming 
the stony-facts of sleepless science into bread of life, in 
moulding the surface-truths of dignified philosophy 
into every conceivable form of beauty, glory, sublimity, 
and magnificence ; and, deeper still, to discover in all 
things the presence of truth, in each man a thought of 
God, in every form the Beautiful. 

What are human thoughts ? 

Human thoughts are the effects of organized cerebral 
motion ; the waves of the waters of life ; the children 
of organal sensation ; the signs of intelligence. 

What are fixed ideas ? 

Human ideas, when fixed, are the patriarchs of the 
thinking faculties ; very fond of control, mostly mascu- 
line, and uniformly overbearing ; the bench of bishops 
who first render theological mysteries canonical, and 
then forbid investigation. 

What are conceptions ? 

Conceptions are the beautiful first-born of the imagi- 
nation ; in disposition feminine, in effect tranquillizing 
and exalting ; they act upon the conscience. 

What is the conscience ? 

Conscience is a spiritual sensibility with a dual ca- 



REVISED AND CORRECTED. 89 

pacity, having a twofold origin — first, innate and 
eternal ; second, educational and temporary. The lat- 
ter, an artificial product of the circumstances of our 
existence, is youngest and most active; natural con- 
science, on the contrary, is first in the soul, is inmost, 
deepest, absolute, and less clamorous. You here see the 
difference between tuition and intuition ; and the reason 
why persons with opposite religions are equally devoted 
and ready to persecute; why a Christian's outer con- 
science can justify the present Ishmaelitish system of 
trade and commerce. 

Why do we not see more of this natural conscience ? 

The undying conscience is now obstructed in its 
efforts to gain the soul's attention. It is the declara- 
tion of the principle of Justice — the clear voice of 
Father God in the garden — concerning; whatsoever is 
Hight to itself and just to all men. Oh, how glorious 
to own a natural conscience ! Yet, as the world goes, 
how extremely painful and inconvenient ! Its demands 
upon its possessor are at once imperative and unpopu- 
lar ; its judgments are neither time-serving nor tran- 
sient ; its rewards are imperishable ; its golden words 
are engraved, ambrotyped, by Imagination on the Book 
of Life ; and the voice of its words reverberates through 
the labyrinths of hidden experience, denying to the 
discordant and sinful soul a moment's silence, till each 



90 THE ASSEMBLY'S SHORTER CATECHISM, 

private evil is manfully overcome and its place occu- 
pied by whatsoever is truly just and fadelessly beau- 
tiful. 

Is the imagination deceptive ? 

Yes ; when the understanding is weak or undevel- 
oped, or when the natural conscience is overrun or 
temporarily superseded by the world's standards of 
right or wrong, then it is that Imagination becomes 
pregnant with crude forms and hurtful fancies. 

What is the result in the mind ? 

The subjective result is that these forms and fancies 
— although not essentially false in the adaptation which 
is possible to them under the ministrations of enlight- 
ened reason — beset the mind with innumerable tricks 
and troublesome extravagances ; hence we meet persons 
who, with a fruitful imagination and little conscience, 
seem to delight even themselves in recounting tales and 
adventures in which they were the heroes and victors. 

Does intellect impair imagination ? 

Far from it ; on the contrary, intelligence and a 
healthy conscience, combined, add consummate grace 
and facilities immense to this prophetic faculty: they 
Hillock its mystie clairvoyance, inspire its pinions with 
herculean strength, and render it at once the most be- 
witching guest and the best philosopher. 



REVISED AND CORRECTED. 91 

Why does philosophical education destroy superstition ? 

Because superstition is the product of Imagination, 
during that faculty's childish years, prior to its cultiva- 
tion and manhood; hence the more wild and undis- 
ciplined a people (like the ancient Chinese, Egyptians, 
Persians, and Jews), the more crude their reports of 
God — the more supernatural and extravagant their con- 
ceptions of religion. 

Are religion and philosophy incompatible ? 

Religion and philosophy are sister and brother ; no 
twins of Father-God and Mother-Nature were ever 
more of one accord ! 

How, then, will you explain the conflicts which frequently occur 
hetween them ? 

There is no conflict between the religion of Nature 
and pure philosophy. Philosophy is a universal liar- 
monizer, and interferes with religion only when its 
fruitful superstitions and consequent exaggerations con- 
tradict the soul's highest affirmations — a just and whole- 
some interference which, resembling a wise parent 
checking a child's impetuosity and untruthfulness, does 
no injury, but, instead, strengthens and beautifies and 
intensifies yet more and more the native glory of all 
true Religion and pure Humanity. 



QUESTIONS ON LIFE, LOCAL AND UNIVERSAL. 



What is life ? 

Life is felt by countless myriads ; bringing to eacli a 
variable value and a different significance. Hence 
many and various words, embodying dissimilar postu- 
lates, are summoned to the work of definition. There 
are at this moment nearly a thousand millions of human 
beings on this globe; therefore, to the problem of 
Life, there are nearly a thousand millions of solutions. 
Man's conception of the answer will correspond to two 
conditions— first, the circumstances of his body — sec- 
ond, the centrestanccs of his spirit ; and however antag- 
onistic the responses emanating from those in opposite 
states of flesh and spirit, yet, on the final analysis and 
synthetic judgment, all answers will be pronounced 
essentially homogeneous, and consistent every way, with 
the doctrine of a universal Brotherhood. 

What is life to childhood ? 

A crown of thanks ! dear reader, for asking me this 
question ; the scene which it unrolls before my spirit is 



LOCAL AND UNIVERSAL. 93 

sweet-perfumed and bursting-full of promise. To a 
well-born and happy Childhood, Life is one with 
silently-creeping grasses, with emerald landscapes, with 
laughing lapping streamlets, with the nervous joy of 
humming bees, with swelling buds and blooming violets ; 
one with flowering and fruiting trees, with the fragrance 
of apple-orchards, with picking clover and sweet grass in 
the meadow, with cuffing the brooklet that goes purling 
below the willows ; one with boat-sailing on the glitter- 
ing pond at the bottom of the field ; one with leaf-clad 
grape-vines climbing aspiringly and lovingly over gar- 
den grottos, with blushing strawberries beneath clefts 
and upon the rock- wrinkled hillside ; one with the fairy 
dwellers of shady nooks, with the sun-ray among inhal- 
ing roses, with the diversal singing of trees swept by 
the wind-spirit of the mystic west ; one with the cheery 
chirp of wren and robin ; one with the evening dream 
of prairie fields of fresh-mown hay, with the luxurious 
beauty of landscapes beyond the sunrise ; one with the 
rushing gayety of the morning light, with the early 
dance of squirrels on the old stone wall ; one with the 
young colt, and the yet trembling calf, and the turkey 
in the pasture, and the timid lamb on the rolling lawn ; 
one with the silvered splendors of midsummer hues, 
with the stillness of a July noon ; one with the fall of 
rain, with the ascending moisture, with the melting bow 



94: QUESTIONS ON LIFE, 

just now arching the far-off horizon ; one with the angel 
of sleep, with the angel of dreams, with the gods of the 
seasons ; one with the undefinable romance of new faces 
that visit at the house, who eat at the table, who smile 
with the baby, and tell innocent stories of lands and 
cities yet to be seen ; one with the ephemeral fascina- 
tion of novel sports, with the painful trouble of finding 
the misplaced plaything ; with the half-sad excitement 
when bounding impulses are checked by the interposing 
voice or strong hand of maternal watchfulness ; lastly, 
and in short — Life to the best childhood is the negation 
of solid happiness, the blush of anticipation without the 
pleasure of participation, the perception of being with- 
out the luxury of understanding it, an innocence which 
has never felt the joy of resisted temptation ; identical 
with initial bewitchments and glittering joys innumer- 
able, which surround the citadel of undisciplined sensi- 
bilities, and which plant, in the rapidly-unfolding 
imagination, the seeds of ideas which rival the Siren 
Isles in beauty, and the realities of this globe as well ; 
hence childhood, to all poets, is a holy foreshadowing 
of pleasures common to the spirit-Lands, a kind of 
avant courier to the facts of an existence superior to 
the present ; a table of contents to the book of the com- 
ing ages ; a daguerreotype, so to speak, of the world be- 



LOCAL AND UNIVERSAL. 95 

yond, painted on earth by the Infinite Sun of the 
Univercoelum. 

What is life to unhappy childhood ? 

Life to unhappy childhood is the breathing curse of 
unchaste and discordant progenitors; an organic strug- 
gle, panting between smiles and tears ; a whipping-post, 
for the expression of domestic discontent and parental 
brutality ; a receptacle for crude and cramped ideas of 
God and humanity ; the fountain of several diseases to 
be transmitted in coming years to a consequent pos- 
terity. Oh, most unwelcome scene ! 

What is life to youth ? 

Youth is readily magnetized by the diversified phe- 
nomena of Life. It narcotizes him so gently, more and 
more day by day, till every object, natural as well as 
artificial, thrills his senses with seductive power — say- 
ing, " Behold ! I'm but the type of what you may pos- 
sess — the merest shadow of to-morrow's substance! 
Press on ! ! On ! ! ! " 

What is life to manhood ? 

Life to manhood is an ethereal flame breathed out 
from the mouth of God ; given not to dissolve the 
world, but to purge its dross away, and to beautify all 
honorable relations. 

What is life to ripened years ? 

The dreams of childhood are faded, but earliest joys 



96 QUESTIONS ON LIFE, 

come back with attractiveness renewed ; youthful reso- 
lutions unkept ; and participations that never filled the 
measure of desire, visit the old man, whose bark rides 
in the trough of that mountain -wave which will quickly 
cast him, beyond the region of danger, high upon the 
bosom of the Infinite. " Life is short," says Jean Paul 
Hichter. " Man has two minutes and a half to live — 
one to smile, one to sigh, and a half to love — for, in the 
middle of this he dies ; but the grave is not deep — it is 
the shining tread of an angel that seeks us. 'When the 
unknown hand throws the fatal dart at the end of man, 
then boweth he his head and the dart only lifts the 
crown of thorns from his wounds." 

What is life to the religious man ? 

Life, to the orthodox believer, is God's transcendent- 
ally-mysterious and unutterably-uncertain gift ; that 
man, through his own free agency and knowledge of 
moral laws, may fix, while in this world, his character 
and condition for eternal ages. 

Is this opinion truthful ? 

Truthful opinions never impeach the plans of divine 
effort ; neither do they afflict human souls with dismal 
ideas of the vast Beyond. 

What do you mean ? 

I mean, in short, that believers of popular dogmas 
are tormented with tyrannic fear, and dare not think in 



LOCAL AND TJNTVEESAL. 97 

freedom, "lest God should overbear their doubt — for 
God is thought to be always eavesdropping, and ever 
on the watch at the keyhole of human consciousness, 
hearkening for the footfall of a wandering thought — 
when he will stab at and run them through, and then 
impale them on his thunderbolt fixed in eternal flame." 
Hence, the religious man entertains an idea of God 
which impeaches at once the majesty of divine Wisdom 
and the universality of divine Love. 

"What, then, is life to the man of wisdom ? 

It is the harbinger of those benefits which Time's- 
sickle cannot mow down, nor the chemistry of death 
impair ; of lessons which, whether heeded and treasured 
up or not in our early years, are the primal causes and 
necessary rudiments of an eternal education. The 
wise man thinketh that the life of this world, like a 
golden harp of infinite magnitude, yieldeth to the use 
made of it; music floats out from its vibrating wires, or 
discord goes rolling and winding through the tissues of 
being, just as we play upon it. John G. Whittier hath 
well said : 

"We shape, ourselves, our joy or fear 
Of which the coming life is m^de, 
And fill our future's atmosphere 
With sunshine or with shade. 

11 The tissue of the life to be 

We weave with colors all our own, 



98 QUESTIONS ON LIFE, 

And in the field of destiny 
We reap as we have sown. 

" Still shall the soul around it call 

The shadows which it gathered there : 
And, painted on the eternal wall, 
The past shall reappear ! — 

" For there we live our life again : 
Or warmly touched or coldly dim 
The pictures of the past remain — 
Man's work shall follow him ! " 

What is life to the author of books ? 

William ITazlitt, both thoughtful aud imaginative, is 
ready with his reply ; he who never wrote a shallow, 
dull, or flat-bottomed sentence; yet whose position, 
being half-spiritual and wholly rational, may not afford 
the required response. 

It is no easy task that a writer, even in so humble 
a class as myself, takes upon him ; he is scouted and 
ridiculed if he fails ; and if he succeeds, the enmity and 
cavils and malice with which he is assailed, are just in 
proportion to his success. The coldness and jealousy of 
his friends not unfrequently keep pace with the rancor 
of his enemies. They do not like you a bit the better 
for fulfilling the good opinion they always entertained 
of you. They would wish you to be always promising a 
great deal and doing nothing, that they may answer for 
the performance. That shows their sagacity, and docs 
not hurt their vanity. An author wastes his time in 



LOCAL AND UNIVERSAL. 90 

painful study and obscure researches, to gain a little 
breath of popularity, meets with nothing but vexation 
and disappointment in ninety-nine instances out of a 
hundred ; or when lie thinks to grasp the luckless prize, 
finds it not worth the trouble — the perfume of a 
minute, fleeting as a shadow, hollow as a sound : " as 
often got without merit as lost without deserving." 
lie thinks that the attainment of acknowledged excel- 
lence will secure him the expression of those feelings in 
others, which the image and hope of it had excited in 
his own breast, but instead of that he meets with nothing 
(or scarcely nothing) but squint-eyed suspicion, idiot 
wonder, and grinning scorn. It seems hardly worth 
while to have taken all the pains he has been at for 
this ! 

In youth we borrow patience from our future years : 
the spring of hope gives us courage to act and suffer. 
A cloud is upon our onward path, and we fancy that all 
is sunshine beyond it. The prospect seems endless, be- 
cause we do not know the end of it. We think that 
life is long, and that, because we have much to do, it is 
well worth doing: or that no exertions can be too great, 
no sacrifices too painful, to overcome difficulties. Life 
is a continued strnirnde to be what we arc not, and to 
do what we can not. But as we approach the goal, we 
draw in the reins ; the impulse is less, and we have not 



100 QUESTIONS ON LIFE, 

so far to go; as we see objects nearer, we become less 
sanguine in the pursuit ; it is not the despair of not at- 
taining, so much as knowing that there is nothing worth 
obtaining, and the fear of having nothing left even to 
wish for, that, damps our ardor and relaxes our efforts. 
We stagger on the few remaining paces to the end of 
our journey ; make, perhaps, one final effort ; and are 
glad when our task is done ! 

What is life poetically considered ? 

Poetically considered, " the web of our life is of a 

mingled yarn, good and evil together. Our virtues 

would be proud, if our faults whipped them not ; and 

our crimes would despair, were they not cherished by 

our virtues." These are the words of that world's 

writer, Shakespeare, who in one short paragraph supplies 

the language of Thought, adequate, in fertile souls, to 

the production of twenty essays and fifty sermons on 

the mysteriousness of Life and its benefits. 

If life was all pleasure, could man yield his love of it, and yearn 
for eternal existence beyond the grave ? 

It is most obvious that Letitia E. Landon's spirit- 
garden was cultured by unseen hands. But while, 
from the flowery slopes thereof heavenly incense rose, 
full of sweetness and spiritual gratitude, meanwhile 
there floated world-ward this low, deep sigh : 

" Oh, love and life are mysteries, both blessing and both blest, 
And yet, how much they teach the heart of trial and unrest ! " 



LOCAL AND UNIVEKSAL. 101 

Also, the Offering of Sympathy — published some 
years since — contains a good reply to your interroga- 
tion : 

" Why, when all is bright and happy, should a gloom 
Be spread around us ? Oh ! blind and thoughtless soul ! 
'Tis the same power that reigns, and the same love 
Is traced alike, in sunshine and in shade : 
The cloud that bears the thunder in its folds 
Comes on the errand of good-will to man ! 
Oh ! we should cling too close to earth, and love 
Too well its pleasures and delight, 
Were there no shadows on its scenes of light, 
No sorrow mingled with its cup of joy. 
If sweet fulfilment followed all our hopes, 
Like the unfoldings of a spring- flower bud, 
We should not seek a better world than this ; 
Where then would be the reachings of the soul 
For higher pleasures, and those purer joys 
That have no other dwelling-place but heaven ! " 

What is life to the chemist ? 

Chemically considered, Life is at once an effect and 
a concomitant of combustion ; a force evolved, collated, 
and centred by the decomposition of certain elements, 
inorganic and imponderable. Chemico-physiologists 
find the temperature of the human body to be in all 
parts of the world about ninety eight-degrees. Heat is 
life, says the physiologist, and cold is death. Human 
food contains carbon and hydrogen. " These exist in 
the chyle. . . . The oxygen of the inspired air enters 
the capillary vessels of the lungs, mingles with the 



102 QUESTIONS ON LIFE, 

blood, with which it is carried to the heart, and thence 
to the nutrient capillary vessels of every part of the 
system. In these vessels the oxygen of the arterial 
blood unites with the carbon and hydrogen of the waste 
atoms, and carbonic acid and water are formed. This 
change among the particles of bodies is attended with 
the disengagement of heat." Such is the chemical 
idea of Life. 

What is life physiologically considered ? 

Physiologically considered, and in accord with the 
materialism of the popular Christian schools of physio- 
logical teaching, " Life " is the vis viice of organized 
bodies — a power of animation and recuperation, recog- 
nized by its varied phenomena, known by a variety of 
Latin names ; " vis insita," or a power in the animal 
muscle which sometimes acts independently of volition ; 
" vis nervea," or a similar phenomenon of the muscle, 
but produced by the nerves instead of external irrita- 
tion ; " vis medicatrix naturae," or that inherent power 
of animated beings which, in case of disease or acci- 
dent, proceeds directly to counteract, repair damages, 
and restore the system to primal healthf ulness. 

What is life harrnordally considered ? 

My answer is — that, viewed from our scientific posi- 
tion, it is the first development of Motion, and the 
second prophetic manifestation, in the vegetable and 



LOCAL AXD TJjSTVERSAL. 103 

animal, of that Intelligence which eventually buds and 
blossoms out in the human sensorium. Life is the 
spirit of all warm blood. It beats eternally through 
the vascular system of immensity — celestially healthful, 
spontaneously beautiful, and all-animating — fresh out- 
flowing from the Centre Heart of the united revolving 
Heavens. Contemplated from our poetic position, Life 
is the soul-love of all Nature. Theologically viewed, it 
is the vital-essence of the Infinite mind. When morally 
viewed, we say, with Longfellow : 

' ' Life is real ! life is earnest, 

And the grave is not its goal : 

* Dust thou art — to dust returnesb ' 

Was not spoken of the soul ! 

" Not enjoyment, and not sorrow, 
Is our destined end and way ; 
But to act that each to-morrow 
Find us, farther than to-day. 

" Trust no Future — howe'er pleasant ! 
Let the dead Past bury its dead ! 
Act — act in the living Present — 
Heart within, and God o'erhead. 

" Lives of true men all remind us 
We can make our lives sublime, 
And, departing, leave behind us 
Footprints on the sands of Time — 

u Footprints which perhaps another, 
Sailing o'er Life's troubled main, 
A forlorn, a shipwrecked brother, 
Seeing, shall take heart again ! 



104 QUESTIONS ON LIFE, 

" Let us, then, be up and doing, 
With a heart for any fate — 
Still achieving, still pursuing, 
Leam to labor and to wait." 

What is life socially considered ? 

It is a charmed circle of ceaseless friendships; an 
ebbless river of blessed sympathies ; the fountain and 
mainspring of heart-born joys and loving-kindnesses; 
of the sweetest delicacies — gentleness, tenderness, love- 
liness, happiness. 

What is life to the politician ? 

A platform of action, ambition, disappointment ; not 
regulated by Principles, but by policies, and expedien- 
cies suited to popularities and necessities of the day ; 
more adapted to govern than to improve, more certain 
to shackle than to liberate. From the misfortunes of 
political strifes and unprincipled gladiators in the arena 
of government ; from the terrors of the god of aris- 
tocracy whose name is " Mammon ; " from all tempo- 
rary losses, by death, of liberty-loving natures, and, by 
election, from the reckless legislation of undeveloped 
minds — Good Lord, deliver us ! 

What is life to the spiritually-minded ? 

According to the record left of Jesus' utterance by 
the mediumized son of Zebedee and Salome, we learn, 
that when absorbing and incorporating and identifying 
himself with the Principle of Love (or the Christ-princi- 



LOCAL AND UNIVERSAL. 105 

pie), the Blessed Moral Reformer said : " I am the 
bread of Life — he that cometh to me shall never hun- 
ger — and he that bclieveth on me shall never thirst. . . 
"Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath 
eternal Life ; . . . the water that I shall give him shall 
be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting 
Life." But Paul's words, while more explicit and beau- 
tiful, may be accepted as not less salutary in sentiment : 
"To be carnally minded, is death — to be spiritually 
minded, is life aud peace." 

What is meant by spiritual-mindedness ? 

Each man of sectarian inclinations, with his intellect 
stored by self-constrained renderings of the Christian 
Scriptures, hath an answer of his own — an expression of 
his intellectual perception of what was taught by the Old 
Masters in spiritual contemplation; but, standing upon 
the platform of an equal liberty and not to assume 
vaster latitudes of spiritual meditation, I reply — that, 
he is spiritually-minded who considers absolute purity 
of heart and life to be the richest human possession, and 
that perfect obedience to the highest faculties and at- 
tributes (or attractions) of the soul is the only means of 
its attainment. 

If such be spiritual-minded, who is the truest teacher of Morals 
and Religion ? 

Listen! the reply cometh — resounding in the firma- 
5* 



106 QUESTIONS ON LIFE, 

ment over the pulpits — from Theodore Parker, the 
fearless iconoclast of Christendom : The Teacher of Pe- 
Linon must seek to make all men noble. He is not to 
make any one after the likeness of another — in the im- 
age of Beecher or Channing, Calvin, Luther, Peter, 
Paul, or Jesus, Moses or Mohammed, but to quicken, 
to guide, and help each man gain the highest form of 
human nature that he is capable of attaining to ; to help 
each to become a man, feeling, thinking, willing, living 
on his own account, faithful to his special individuality 
of soul. I wish men understood this, that their individ- 
uality is as sacred before God as that of Jesus or of 
Moses ; and you are no more to sacrifice your manhood 
to them than they theirs to you. Respect for your man- 
hood or womanhood, how small soever your gifts may 
be, is the first of all duties. As I defend my body 
against all outward attacks, and keep whole my limbs, 
so must I cherish the integrity of my spirit, take no 
man's mind or conscience, heart or soul, for my master 
— the helpful all for helps, for despots none. I am 
more important to myself than Moses, Jesus, all men, 
can be to me. LToliness, the fidelity to my own con- 
sciousness, is the first of manly and womanly duties ; 
that kept, all others follow sure." 

* See Discourse by Theodore Parker, " On the Functions of a 
Teacher of Religion in these Times." 



LOCAL AND UNIVERSAL. 107 

What, then, is the truest Life ? 

No man ever gave a better reply than the author of 
Fes t us : 

" We live in deeds, not years ; in thoughts not breaths ; 
In feelings, not in figures on a dial ; 
We should count time by heart-throbs. He most lives 
Who thinks most, feels the noblest, acts the best." 

Who best comprehends the drift of Life ? 

That far-seeing, comprehensive, intellectual visionist, 
who, aided by an intuitive consciousness of everlasting 
principles invisible to outward sense, grasps that univer- 
sal, gigantic law which uttereth speech from every order 
and decree of life — Interior attractions are absolute 
prophecies of exterior destinies / or, in other words, 
that each radical human Desire is a promissory Note, 
drawn up and indorsed by the Eternal God, payable at 
the ever-solvent Bank of Ultimate Satisfaction. This, 
in very truth, is the glad tidings of great joy which 
shall be unto all people : a message delivered to will- 
ing minds, by the omnipotent and loving Spirit of uni- 
versal Nature. 

What is life to the man of silence ? 

It is that mysterious mood which envelops "the un- 
known God " — a magnificent scheme of infinite sadness 
— the only natural sequence to pre-existent Sorrows un- 
utterable. 



108 QUESTIONS ON LIFE, 

What do you mean ? 

I mean that of " Silence " there are two kinds — that 
which results from over-thought or over-feeling, and that 
which is created and compelled by the absence of them. 
The first evokes Silence as the only true expression of 
love, worship, gratitude, devotion ; the second is over- 
whelmed by itself, as a desert of hot sand by its own 
oppressive barrenness and isolated desolation. Carlyle 
speaks from exalted silence : " When I gaze into the 
stars, they look down upon me with pity from their 
serene and silent spaces, like eyes glistening with tears, 
over the lot of man. Thousands of generations, all as 
noisy as our own, have been swallowed up by time, and 
there remains no record of them any more ; yet Arc- 
turus and Orion, Sirius, and the Pleiades, are still shin- 
ing in their courses, clear and young as when the shep- 
herd first noticed them in the plains of Shinar ! " 

What is true silence ? 

True silence is the handmaid of meditation ; she is a 
good and faithful friend to him who prays in secret. 

What is meditation ? 

Meditation is a beautiful angel-queen, clad in the 
white attire of spiritual purity, throned within the cry- 
stal palace of eternal Truth, within the " House not 
built with hands " — the Home of God, whose countless 
Mansions — heated with Love, lighted with Wisdom, 



LOCAL AND UNIVERSAL. 109 

ventilated with Freedom, furnished with Peace — bedeck 
the fields of Infinitude ; each House with many doors ; 
each door opening upon a new path in the pilgrimage 
of progression ; and each new way leading the travel- 
ler into a different department of Father-God and 
Mother-Nature ! 

What is life to the merchant ? 

Life to the merchant hath three distinct phases. He- 
member these words — Meditation is the door which 
opens upon the divine Presence — and I will answer the 
question. Fatigued with an excess of externalism, with 
his will all overlaid and regulated by the irresistible 
logic of a prodigious necessity, and although lost, as 
one might suppose, to every interior thought, yet have 
I seen a certain man, though a merchant, become tem- 
porarily a wooer of the blessednesses of meditation. 
'Twas a strange spectacle ! His senses firmly locked, 
shut up within the world-proof intrenchments of a con- 
scious individuality, substituting day-books and ledgers 
for the book of life, his best customers denied admis- 
sion, his whole aspect saying — " Closed, to take an ac- 
count of stock? Yes, distinctly I saw him, that mer- 
chant, calculating the results of his contact with his fel- 
lows — the profit and loss — how much happiness he owns 
and how much misery — and seeing himself, butterfly- 
like, flitting away his existence up and down the fatal 



110 QUESTIONS ON LIFE, 

ledger-leaf, lie writes, at the end of his retrospection — 
" It don't pay." Brief words these, but frightfully full 
of meaning. Behold ! how the spirit of the age— half - 
fanatical with the inward flames of a bold constructive 
enterprise — arouses and re-energizes that merchant. 
" It don't pay " to be lost in vague abstractions — there- 
fore, " thankful for past favors, resolved to merit a con- 
tinuance of public patronage," he unbars the doors and 
decorates his windows : solemnly pledges himself, mind 
and might, to the graceless gods of this world ; prede- 
termines to live, like his neighbors, and equally well 
with the best of them, by feeding the heartless wants 
and feverish fashion of the fleeting hours ; becomes 
recreant to his inner weal, an apostate to personal right- 
eousness, sears and searches the goods and glories of con- 
science — alas ! what do I see ? — Bulletins, swinging out 
at each corner of his soul, saying — " Damaged goods at 
a bargain." 

And yet, blinded by the blushes of occasional success, 
he pushes forward. His soul's hidden merchandise and 
all his habits are popular ; but he would sell for u less 
than cost." Push off the injured stocks, so damaged by 
the fire of an offended conscience; the clerks, his 
thoughts, are ordered to sell them ; they do so — and the 
merchant fancies himself victorious — the world is pur- 
chased by his spiritual devotion to it ; but, after all, there 



LOCAL AND UNIVERSAL. Ill 

remaineth a frightful residuum, a mass of ruined goods 
in the secret closets of his soul, on which is written, as 
by an angel's mighty hand — " Mene, Mene, Tekel." 

And the merchant weeps ! Defeat has walked by 
his side day and night, like a wolf in borrowed garb, 
dressed in the manner of victory. All ! he has driven 
too oft from his soul the spirit of Meditation — has re- 
fused to enter in at the straight gate ; from day to day he 
has allowed his business to master his manhood, has 
violated the laws of body and mind ; and, offending 
still his yet surviving perception of the Rights of Man, 
he is prostrated helpless on his self-made bed of death. 
An angel of deathless friendship — weeping, speechless, 
powerful — stands yet by his side. And hung out over 
each door of the fast-decavincr store, the material tern- 
pie of the spiritual occupant, is the flag of death, the 
auctioneer, saying — " Assignee's sale ; no postponement 
on account of weather." 

From all the forejoingf perceptions of Life, what rules shall we 
adopt to subserve individual harmony and social happiness ? 

My whole answer is concentrated in the following 
directions for establishing the Harmonial Dispensa- 
tion : 

" Tiiy Kingdom come." — How to bring it. — 1. In the 
Morning arise — resolved to do nothing against, but 
everything for, the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth. 2. 



112 QUESTIONS ON LIFE. 

Happiness for all being the object, let every action dur- 
ing the Day spring from such well-conceived and well- 
developed thoughts as lead to its attainments. 3. In 
the Evening retire — -at Peace with yourself — at Peace 
with the divine principles of universal Love and Wis- 
dom. 

• " Thy Will be done." — How to do it. — 1. Be in- 
structed by the Past, and by all it has brought you. 2. 
Be thankful for the Present, and for all its blessings. 
3. Be hopeful for the Future, and for all it promises to 
bring you. 

Observe these Rules, and the Harmonies of the king- 
dom of God will be with you, and Peace on .Earth and 
good-will toward Man will be realized. 



QUESTIONS 01 THEO-PIIYSIOLOGY. 



Wiiat is Nature ? 

Nature is the sevenfold manifestation of the Great 
Positive Mind. 

What is the Great Positive Mind ? 

The Great Positive Mind is the crystallization of all 
Essences — the focalization of all Principles — to an ex- 
tent wholly incomprehensible. 

Is Nature separate from this Mind ? 

No ; what we term Nature is the eternal associate of 
Deity — one living in and through the other, " all in all " 
— as the mutual dependence of Cause and Effect. 

What are Principles ? 

Principles are the changeless methods whereby all 
essences are regulated in their ascension from primates 
to ultimates — from simplicity to diversification — from a 
state of merely abstract vitality to orderly embodiment 
and permanent organization. 

Is God confined to a centre or focus in space ? 

The spirit of God is an omnipresent spiritual princi- 



114 QUESTIONS ON THEO-PIIYSIOLOGT. 

pie — animating and regulating the universal whole — 
being himself governed by the involuntary necessities 
of His own constitution. 

Does God know all events eternal years before they transpire ? 
God knows only through the ever-awakening intelli- 
gences of his universal existence. 

Can God do all things? 

God is not sufficiently powerful to accomplish self- 
destruction. There are, therefore, necessities to omnip- 
otence. 

Is God a progressive being ? 

There is no increase of the quantities of mind or 
matter ; but of progress in qualities and permutations 
there is no limitation. 

Is the universe boundless ? 

Boundlessness is a comparative term applicable only 
to infinity, not to the organic or inorganic contents 
thereof ; what men term Infinity, is that shoreless ex- 
tent of space in which the universe revolves. 

Are the contents of infinity eternally fixed ? 

Eternal fixedness can be predicated only of Princi- 
ples. 

Are not essences also immutable ? 

Immutability is true of essences only when applied 
to their endlessly diversified and ceaseless mutations. 



QUESTIONS ON THEO-PHYSIOLOGY. 115 

That is to say, all vitalic and energizing elements are 
strictly immutable in their changeability. 

Do essences exist forever ? 

There is no non-existence. Infinity is something con- 
taining something. Boundless space is at all moments 
occupied with unimaginable fields of matter and motion 
— elementary principles these, on their way up the 
dizzy acclivities of immensity, reaching forward pro- 
gressively after expression through living organizations. 

Is there no department of infinity unemployed ? 

No ; there is no space unoccupied — no vacuum hos- 
pitable to that which should be destroyed. There is 
nothing existing without embodying divine ideas and 
subserving eternal uses. Whatsoever is good and use- 
ful cannot be destroyed ; and inasmuch as there is noth- 
ing but what is animated by the one spirit of goodness 
and utility, so is there nothing capable of annihilation in 
all the realms of Infinitude. 

Is man's individuality lost in future spheres ? 

No ; never ! Because man's spiritual entity, unlike 
that of any inferior being, is a product of an indissolu- 
ble alliance matrimonial, between all atoms of matter 
and all principles of mind ; the ultimate form of all 
forces, the fruit of the universal tree, and retaineth the 
image and inheritcth the immortality of his divine pro- 
genitors. 



116 QUESTIONS ON THEO-PHYSIOLOGY. 

What is the most important question ? 

The most important question to this age is, that kind 
of interrogation which looketli into the origin of the 
human species ; to man's improvement from the very 
beginning. 

How can this be accomplished ? 

Healthy and well-constituted offspring can be brought 
into existence by means of just, chaste, and harmonial 
marriages of men and women ; through obedience to 
the twelve commandments. 

How can such marriages be secured ? 

True marriages may be secured by parents teaching 
their sons and daughters the uses of such relations ; and 
then, by instructing them in a knowledge of the central 
temperaments, let them go forth and make choice upon 
their own responsibility. (See 4th vol. of Great Ilar- 
monia, and Marriage and Parentage by II. C. Wright.) 

But how shall we comprehend your philosophy of the central tem- 
peraments ? 

By observation and intuitional study, as } T ou obtain 

a reliable knowledge of any subject, either scientific 

or religious. 

Can you not give more details containing the temperaments ? 

Not yet ; the " Reformer " was written to quicken 
the world in the direction of matrimonial progress ; and 
thus, by stirring the waters of life, develop questions 



QUESTIONS ON THEO-PIIYSIOLOGY. 117 

which some other day will answer ; that day has not 
yet dawned upon the world. 

Would such marriages be more fruitful ? 

No ; true nuptial relations, consummated on the har- 
monial basis, while yielding vast harvests of golden joys 
for the world to sow and reap, would be less prolific in 
the multiplication of children. 

How do you explain this lack of productiveness ? 

The explanation is, that none but the intellectual and 
spiritual in motive can conceive of and enter upon a 
high order of marriage; and such, being superior to 
extremism, and consequently deficient in the germinal 
properties of mere blood-love, must of necessity bring 
into existence fewer children, but better far in every 
organic essential. 

What is the invisible spiritual principle in man ? 

The spiritual principle is a term employed in this 
Philosophy to designate that affectional and intelligent 
dynamical influence by which the human organization 
is animated and governed. 

But you say on page 103 of the Great Harmonia, vol. i., that 
" Disease is a want of equilibrium in the circulation of the spiritual 
principle." Now, if this principle be organized, having form and so- 
lidity as you affirm, how can it circulate in the physical structure ? 

The explanation is complete when I add four words 
to the proposition, thus— disease is a want of equilib- 



118 QUESTIONS OK THEO-PHTSIOLOGY. 

rium in the circulation of the superficial elements of the 
spiritual principle. This spiritual principle, being com- 
pounded of essences infinitely refilled, and cherishing 
affinities more or less powerful for the several impon- 
derable elements from which in part it derived its 
substance and individuality, is subject to their positive 
and negative action ; that is to say, the superficial 
elements pervading the spiritual principle, may be 
heated or expanded, and cooled or contracted, by the 
action of magnetic atmospheres or electric agents, 
which at all times and everywhere surround the body 
of the human soul. In this manner the spiritual prin- 
ciple may be contracted or expanded (in its superficial 
departments) by the presence of heat or cold, as is 
proved by common experience, and thus be made to 
lose its healthy balance or equilibrium ; in which case 
the individual is attacked with one of two conditions — 
a fever, or a chill — the one produced by a positive or 
magnetic state, the other by its opposite, the negative or 
electrical. 

How does sensation (partly existing- on the exterior of the physical 
body) which, circulates through the sensitive nerves, transmit itself 
from its own vessels into other more interior and unnatural recepta- 
cles, as the mucous membranes ? 

The answer is simple. Although the invisible spirit- 
ual principle is an organized and indestructible sub- 
stance, yet it is clothed by a transitory medium, sensa- 



QUESTIONS ON THEO -PHYSIOLOGY. 119 

tion, capable of being influenced by heat and cold, 
repelled "or attracted, as already explained. In further 
illustration let me remark, that " sensation " is a term 
used in the Ilarmonial Philosophy with two significa- 
tions. 

What are these two significations ? 

The first, that sensation is an ingredient or elementary 
principle of the immortal mind ; the second, that sensa- 
tion is a pervading attribute of the spiritual body, 
dwelling ordinarily on the external surfaces. Now, inas- 
much as this attribute is exposed (because dwelling on 
the serous membranes and surfacial nerves) to the ac- 
tion of elements in the outer world, so is it (sensation) 
liable to be thrown into different phases of operation, 
caused, as before said, by the presence and influence of 
different degrees of temperature. 

Can you illustrate this proposition ? 

Yes ; common atmospheric electricity, for example, 
is capable simultaneously of diminishing surface sensa- 
tion and of increasing the sensibility of the interior por- 
tions ; while, on the other hand, atmospheric magnet- 
ism is adequate to the production of effects precisely 
opposite. 

Can a part, which goes to form a perfect organization, be dis- 
placed thus and transposed , without producing disorganization ? 

Yes ; all this, that is a change of action among the 



120 QTJESTIONS ON THEO-PHYSIOLOGY. 

atoms of blood and a change of temperature in the subt- 
ler fluids, may occur without in any degree disturbing 
or deranging or displacing the deific substances of 
•which the spiritual inmost is composed, even though 
such changes might be prolonged and sufficient to de- 
stroy the physiological functions and liberate the im- 
mortal mind. You perceive, then, that Sensation — not 
as an elementary principle of the organized soul, but 
only when in the capacity of an attribute or medium — 
is subject to diversal transpositions. These, I denomi- 
nate " a loss of equilibrium " — the beginning of all dis- 
eases — the initial type being Fever and Ague. 

What shall we do to make others unhappy ? 

You may be efficient in the production of unhappi- 
ness to others, first, by having a lust of control and 
benevolence sufficiently small to constantly fret at and 
get angry with those (quite as good as yourself) whose 
ruling temperaments naturally differ with your own ; 
second, by living practically upon the extreme or in- 
verted planes of Self -Love ; or, third, by violating any 
one of the twelve commandments, as set forth in the 
present publication and in the second volume of the 
Great Harmonia. 

When we travel for pleasure how shall we contrive to be miser- 
able ? 

You may accomplish this result in various ways— 



QUESTIONS ON THEO-PHYSIOLOGY. 121 

first, by mentally carrying all your business along, or 
the perplexities of your housekeeping establishment ; 
second, by packing up without system, and taking with 
you seventy- five per cent more baggage than you will 
absolutely require ; third, by cultivating feelings of 
hostility to the least inconvenience, and by combating 
the delays at passenger stations ; fourth, by eating 
a large quantity of food, and by drinking stimulating 
fluids or water, when not really thirsting ; fifth, by per- 
se veringly avoiding every attempt at ventilation, and by 
wearing more garments than the temperature demands ; 
lastly, by indulging your inverted fraternal love in 
thinking over the faults, plotting the downfall, or envy- 
ing the good fortune of some acquaintance, present or 
absent. 

How shall children be made nervous, fretful, and sick, while 
travelling ? 

There are a multitude of rules, but none more correct 
than the following : Give the child a little piece of 
something to eat every fifteen or twenty minutes 
throughout the journey — besides, forbid its talking fast ; 
forbid its crying even when too long restrained ; forbid 
its desire to run about, and keep its mouth half smoth- 
ered in the nurse's bosom. 

Can you give some plan whereby to fulfil this prescription, and 
thus make the child's unhappiness and sickness a matter of certainty ? 
6 



122 QUESTIONS ON THEO-PHYSIOLOGY. 

Yes ! The surest plan, one which has been " tried 
over and over again " and proved most successful, is 
this : Before setting out on a day's trip by the cars, 
provide your pockets and carpet-bags with the requisite 
variety and quantity of colored toys and confectionery 
substances. For example : After the first ten miles' 
entertainment has wearied your child's senses — after 
witnessing the phantom phenomenon of fields, fences, 
trees, villages, moving rapidly toward the place you left 
behind — when your child begins to ask questions, 
" When will we be home ? " exhibiting symptoms of 
coming restlessness — wants to change its seat, etc., etc., 
then fumble in one of your pockets, and, finding, give 
it a stick of peppermint candy; that gone, give next 
the half of an apple with its core / next, as the child 
grows still more restless, about two cents' worth of pea- 
nuts ; these will do very well for half an hour's enter- 
tainment, when the little eyelids will close in a dream- 
ful sleep of fifteen minutes' duration ; then, as its 
mouth begins the exercises well known as preparatory 
to a half-angry and nervo-pathetic cry, put a stop to 
this by means of a sandwich you had the presence of 
mind to prepare before starting ; next give it a hater's 
sweet-cake, or — which will do as well — some home-made 
jumbles ; but as the hours wear slowly away, and your 
child's unhappiness and nervousness continue to in- 



QUESTIONS ON THEO-PHYSIOLOGY. 123 

crease, give it a, dose of medicine, according to direc- 
tions on the outside of the bottle ; when its thirst be- 
comes unbearable (after eating the sandwich), give it 
a drink of lukewarm water, which may be found at 
the end of the ladies' car ; and now, as the cherub face 
looks comparatively happy onoe more, try to increase it 
by placing in the dimpled hand a fine sioeet orange — 
lEP* don't take off the skin, nor remove the seeds ; but 
inasmuch as, while eating the orange, the busy head 
unwillingly bumped itself on the corner of the adjoin- 
ing seat, and as the otherwise well-behaved child is 
suddenly attacked with a fretful fever and headache, 
therefore now is the time to give the other half of the 
ajpjple aforesaid ; this should be followed by a regular 
attempt to feed the empty (!) stomach, which, owing 
doubtless to the blow on the head, is without desire for 
the substantial articles ; nevertheless, don't be discour- 
aged, even if the appetite is gone and the fever does 
heat the brow, but give a piece of cocoa-nut candy or a 
stick of licorice-root, so very simple; as this will be 
quickly disposed of (a part having fallen in a pool of 
tobacco juice which a gentleman has caused to ilow be- 
neath), return to your peppermints and peanuts, to your 
almost-forgotten crackers and cheese, to your remaining 
oranges and apples ; and finally, as soon as you get out 
of the cars, take the quickest conveyance home, with 



124 QUESTIONS ON THEO-PHTSIOLOGT. 

the sick child in your arms, giving it innumerable 
promises of new shoes, of beautiful rocking-horses, of 
a bran-new article of clothing, etc., etc. ; when arrived, 
despatch word to the most respectable physician, get 
him in your house, and say : " Doctor ! do something 
quick for our child. Wife and I (not having any pare- 
goric with us) have made unwearied efforts during the 
whole journey to keep the little darling still. About 
mid-day we noticed its little forehead was feverish. 
Ko appetite since morning — couldn't eat any lunch 
with us — and hasn't been able to take any nourishment ! 
Oh ! dear — do something for the child ! AYhat have 
we done to be so visited and afflicted by Providence ? 
Doctor ! what is the matter ? " To which that gentle- 
man gravely replies : "Pulse indicative of a high fever 
— gastric irritation — threatened with convulsions — a dan- 
gerous diarrhoea — with inflammation of the bowels — 
scarlet fever — prospective water on the brain — I can 
tell better to-morrow morning." 

If our child should die, what shall we have preached at its funeral ? 

You should send for your physician's most distin- 
guished friend and co-laborer, namely, the most respect- 
able pastor in town. In his prayer, let him inform the 
Supernatural that we recognize this event, the plucking 
of this rose from its parent stock, as another warning 
(to those remaining) to believe on the Lord Jesus, and 



QUESTIONS ON THEO -PHYSIOLOGY. 125 

in his death for sinners' sake. In the sermon he should 
dwell, with touching eloquence and tears in his eyes, on 
the mysterious ways of Providence, on the incompre- 
hensibility of God's ways to man, on the doctrine that 
God gives and God takes away ; the whole to conclude 
with a pathetic prayer, touching upon the doctrine that 
the young spirit lias gone " to the bourne whence no 
traveller returns," gone to the regions of the incompre- 
hensible, gone to the mysterious un-get-at-able world, 
except through " faith " in the recognized standards of 
evangelical truth! 

How shall a child be made quiet and happy while travelling- ? 

By adopting a course diametrically unlike the fore- 
going. The excitement of changing and moving about, 
and not the labor of doing it, is the cause of a fictitious 
desire to eat. Children and adults alike require but 
little nourishment while travelling — taken as near as 
possible to the accustomed hours while at home. Pre- 
serve your balance thus, and your journey, even if half 
round the world, will be cheerful and comparatively 
without fatigue. 

What is the eye ? 

The eye is the portal through which the soul looks 
out upon the universe : the light of the body ; it is the 
Master ArtisJ^in the picturesque Academy of intellec- 
tual Design ; it is the image of a principle. 



12G QUESTIONS ON THEO-PIIYSIOLOGY. 

What offices are there assigned to the visual organs ? 

A&signed to the visual organization are three offices — 
first, to paint the exact shadow of external objects upon 
that invisible and all-embracing canvas, called Imagin- 
ation — second, to establish and regulate Memory by il- 
luminating and expanding the understanding — third, to 
discover in the wilderness of human experiences the 
ever-pleasant and ever-attractive Paths of Pure Wisdom 
— paths beginning in the lowest valley, even at the foot 
of the cradle of life, winding all the wav round the im- 
mense base of rudimental existence, and thence, with an 
imperceptible transition, continuing their unbroken lead 
spirally onward through an endless galaxy of golden 
homes in firmaments eternal. 

Is the philosophy of vision comprehended ? 
No ; the philosophy of human vision is as yet but lit- 
tle understood. If the beautiful structure of the globe 

o 

of the eye was said to be a faithful representative of the 
three grand Laws of Nature, physicians would smile; 
yet what is more familiar to the occulist than the scien- 
tific classification of the visual membranes and humors 
— as the following : 

TIIE COATS. THE IIUMOIIS. 

1st. The sclerotic and cornea. 1st. The aqueous or watery. 

2d. The choroid and ciliary. 2d. The crystalline (lens). 

3d. The retina, or inmost membrane. 3d. The vitreous or glassy. 

Here are indicated the presence and action of a trin- 



QUESTIONS ON THEO-PIIYSIOLOGY. 127 

ity of living Laws, which flow out into corresponding 
organizations. 

Is the ear similarly constructed ? 

Yes ; and every organ to be found in the animal or 
mental empire. The ear, for example, is composed of 
three anatomical parts, thus : 1st, the furrowed cartilage, 
or external ear ; 2d, the tympanum, or middle ear ; 3d, 
the labyrinth, or internal ear. So, also, by scientific 
classification, we learn that the labyrinth al part of the 
ear is composed of a tfAr^-cornered cavity, called the 
vestihule, the cochlea, and the semi-circular canals. Be- 
hold, herein, the action of triune laws. 

What is the tongue ? 

The tongue is a standard of judgment to the com- 
bined digestive organization ; besides which, it is the 
soul's chief and truest interpreter. 

How is the tongue a source of judgment ? 

Through its sensational capacities. Owing to the ad- 
mirable accuracy of its impressible nerves, the tongue 
is capable of deciding, both in sickness and in health, 
what foods and beverages will best subserve the offices 
of the stomach ; in this judgment it is wiser than all 
the inferential dietetic systems either of chemists or 
physiologists, and when strictly confided in and obeyed, 
will save the whole body from all extremes and physical 



128 QUESTIONS ON THEO-PHYSIOLOGY. 

discordance. Hence every tongue must be its own 
judge. 

If this be true, why do persons who "indulge their appetites" 
complain of illness and propagate disease ? 

Because they violated, in the days of youthful rash- 
ness, that standard of taste which is supreme in the 
tongue. Alcohol and opium and tobacco were originally 
forced into the mouth, contrary to the repeated remon- 
strances of the lingual sensibilities, until violence and 
insult have established the reign of temporary silence 
over both tongue and conscience, but the " ills" of days' 
or months' or years' continuance do utter the language 
of condemnation, and urge the paralyzed will to begin 
the work of self-reform. 

What are the uses of the tongue ? 

The office of this inestimable instrument is fourfold 
— first, to report to the physician's eye the secret condi- 
tion of the sympathetic nerves and the ganglionic cen- 
tres ; second, to divulge to the ear of friendship the af- 
fections and emotions of the heart ; third, to transform 
the deepest thoughts of intelligence into sounds which 
the listening spirit can remember for ages afterward ; 
fourth, to tell the ever-attfactive lessons which unfet- 
tered and progressive souls absorb from the vital system 
of the Infinite. 



QUESTIONS ON THEO-PHYSIOLOGY. 129 

When is the tongue misemployed ? 

A7hen it is made to embrace anything not welcome to 
its infallible standard of justice. You well know that 
your discrimination oi flavors did not spring from an 
original intellectual perception of them ; nay, the intel- 
lectual faculties acquire their education respecting foods 
and drinks from the testimonies and admonitions fur- 
nished by the thrice wiser tongue ; which, if intelligently 
and conscientiously heeded, would at once set up an 
everlasting barrier of defence against the invasion of 
multitudinous medicines and epicurean habits at present 
so extremely orthodox and fashionable. To the human 
as well as animal, either in sickness or in health, one 
rule is forever safe — namely : ask the organ of smell 
what odors will delight, and the organ of taste what 
flavors will please, then eat and drink (as directed in 4th 
vol. of the Ilarmonia) : and the nose and mouth will 
notify your Reason that a swallow of fluid or a mouth- 
ful of bread after thirst is slaked or hunger is appeased, 
is wastef ul and mischievous excess, entailing habits of 
intemperance and the seeds of disease. 

When is the tongue an instrument of torture ? 

When it cries out " Crucify him ! crucify him ! ! " — 
words which, while imparting no good tidings, put 
mighty weapons of persecution in the hands of the 
ignorant and prejudiced. Beware of that tongue 



130 QUESTIONS ON THEO-PHYSIOLOGT. 

which delighteth in the sequestered causes and private 
details of broken friendship ; which propagates the last 
tale of misfortune or slander concerning individuals 
and families at home, or of nations' quarrels in distant 
lands. 

When is the tongue an angel of mercy ? 

When, warmed by an overflowing heart of tender- 
ness, it uttereth the words of that Friendship which 
could be neither purchased by the golden gifts of pro- 
sperity nor sold when misfortune sent an auctioneer to 
dispose of your transient possessions. 

"When is the tongue the noblest friend of man ? 

When it proclaims in thunder-tones the unreversable 
principles of Love and Wisdom and Liberty in behalf 
of every people and for all races of men ; against the 
mischievous hatred of tyrants, against the unbridled 
despotism of monarchies, against the bitterness and 
bigotry of religionists, against every institution that 
works antagonistic to the largest freedom of any object 
bearing the image of humanity. 

"When is the tongue a promoter of pleasure ? 

When it ministers instructive anecdotes to the circle 
of friendship, and when, without irony and satire, it 
sets in harmonial motion the wheels of Wit, Humor, 
and convivial Mirthfulness. Yet story-telling (accord- 



QUESTIONS ON THEO-PHYSIOLOGY. 131 

ing to Dean Swift) is subject to two unavoidable 
defects ; frequent repetition, and being soon exhausted 
— so that he wdio values this gift in himself, has need 
of a good Memory, and should frequently shift his 
company. 

What is the use of man's body ? 

The use of man's body is : to mould and organize 
and develop his internal Principle — termed soul, mind, 
spirit — an indestructible conscious entity. 

What is the use of the soul, mind, spirit ? 

The use of the spirit, as was said in the first chapter, 
is the spirit's indefinite problem — a mystery, which one 
short sentence may possibly dissipate, viz. : to give a 
conscious, intelligent expression to the eternal attributes 
of Father-God and Mother-Nature. 

Is man's thinking principle, his spirit, extracted or obtained from 
■whatsoever he breathes, eats, and drinks ? 

Man's spiritual body (which contains his inmost 
being) is elaborated and fashioned, by means of his 
various bodily organs, from unatomized substances 
extracted out of air, food, water, and the several im- 
ponderable principles. But man's inmost — his spiritual 
principle — is a deific essence. 



QUESTIONS ON THE DESPOTISM OF OPINION. 



How many forms of despotism are there ? 

There are three forms of despotism — two are institu- 
tional ; one, is individual — namely, political despotism, 
ecclesiastical despotism, and the despotism of opinion. 

What can be said of North America as a country ? 

Politically considered, and notwithstanding its justi- 
fication of chattel slavery, North America, as a country, 
is the freest and the best. But France, England, and 
Germany, while laboring under numerous oppressions, 
enjo} r more freedom of opinion. In America, the 
despotism of opinion is might} 7 . It is gradually grow- 
ing less powerful, methinks ; still, it rules the masses. 
It leads to the organization of fashion — to imitation — 
to a standard of judgment by which majorities govern 
minorities, the strong the weak, might is confounded 
with right, and the worst forms of tyranny and the best 
phases of liberty dwell side by side 'neath the shade of 
the nation's banner; the symptoms of future alterations. 

What do you mean by an opinion ? 

By opinion, I do not mean anything which is demon- 



QUESTIONS ON THE DESPOTISM OF OPINION. 133 

strable — such as the facts of history, the phenomena of 
science, or the principles of philosophy : these are sus- 
ceptible of the most thorough demonstration. Opinion, 
on the contrary, is a vagabond, rambling about in the 
fields of perceptive logic — an illegitimate child of the 
intellect — a sort of bastard, so to say, whose parentage 
can never be fully traced nor legally defined. Opinion, 
therefore, is derived from no well-ascertained fact, 
from no established principle. If it were thus derived, 
it would no longer be opinion, but knowledge absolute, 
which precludes opinion. 

What is the origin of an opinion ? 

Opinion is conceived and brought forth by such 
parents as inferences, deductions, presumptions, as- 
sumptions, guesses, mistakes, misstatements, misunder- 
standings : these all are eggs, each the centre of a 
bantling opinion ; each the germ of procreative despo- 
tisms, brooded by little minds and time-serving institu- 
tions. Supernaturalism and metaphysical theories 
spring from conjecture — which, becoming an opinion, 
by general consent and not by understanding, attains 
to authority, and denies thenceforward the right of 
individual free discussion. 

What have you ascertained by investigation ? 

By investigation I have acquired this knowledge — 



134 QUESTIONS ON THE DESPOTISM OF OPINION. 

that all theology is a despotic theory, an opinion ; and 
nothing more. 

o 

Do you make any distinction between theology and some of the 
doctrines of Jesus ? 

Yes ; the doctrines of Jesus, concerning morality and 
spiritualism, are immutable truths. Theology, on the 
contrary, is not based upon Nature's facts and princi- 
ples, but, as already said, upon inferences, presump- 
tions, assumptions, which became despotic just like 
every other opinion. Knowledge has no slavery in it : 
opinion has no liberty. Opinion is the builder of 
dungeons; the inventor and proprietor of torturing 
racks and rods of iron ; the grand Inquisitor who first 
kindles the martyr's fire, and then executes its terrible 
judgments. Such is the despotism of opinion. Abso- 
lute knowledge, being inherently positive, precludes 
all opinion ; forever independent of mere belief. Of 
course, I mean such knowledge as that which the entire 
soul acquires by industry through its appropriate chan- 
nels of consciousness ; that which, in the due process of 
integral growth, becometh Wisdom. And I repeat the 
affirmation, that church-theology is merely an opinion • 
a subjective belief ; destitute of that knowledge which 
it arrogates to itself. 

Can you give evidence to strengthen this assertion ? 

Yes; church-theology, for example, is believed by 



QUESTIONS ON THE DESPOTISM OF OPINION. 135 

persons who are in general quite ignorant of the 
extents of Nature / its laws, its functions, its relations, 
its harmonies, are never perceived by the believer in a 
dismal theolosrv. But the sectarian mind, "never 
taught to stray, far as the solar walk," studies geog- 
raphy perhaps, and sees this globe as the centre, the sun 
and moon and stars all as so many attendant super- 
numeraries, and special providences as a human 
necessity to salvation. Our earth the centre of creation ! 
a stationary orb, the largest, most important, abont 
whose imperturbable majesty the entire heavens re- 
volve ! And the earth's inhabitants, the chief of all 
Deific concern. 

Have we not outgrown this contracted idea ? 

Yes ; thank God ! the soaring soul of Science has 
overswept the limitations of Ignorance — the prolific 
source of old theology — and man's slowly but surely 
developing Knowledge has repressed the tides of the 
dead seas of error, and set bounds to the despotism of 
opinion. 

Where did the world get the idea that this globe was the centre of 
the universe ? 

The world received it from the oriental tribes. Gen- 
esis teaches the paramount position, size, and impor- 
tance of this earth ; the Sun, the Moon, the myriad 
Stars, these are subordinate and subservient. But the 



136 QUESTIONS ON THE DESPOTISM OF OPINION. 

" Milky Way " was long since churned up by Astron- 
omy, and divided into vast constellated groups, tlie 
magnitude of some of which is sufficient to fill to over- 
flowing our entire planetary system — out-measuring the 
vast orbit of Neptune — swelling over and expanding 
away into the immense depths of space beyond ! 

Can you illustrate your idea of this planetary magnitude ? 

Yes ; " Alcyone," for illustration, is a name for one 
of the brightest stars in the Pleiades. Around this 
magnificent centre, our entire solar fraternity — the Sun, 
and its vast family of planets — travel swiftly, noise- 
lessly, ceaselessly, without a moment's rest, without a 
moment's fatigue. And yet, like a living, breathing, 
harmonial Man, our planetary organization lays seem- 
ingly destitute of animation, near the centre of a wide- 
spread bed of interlacing and inhabited stars. To the ex- 
ternal sense he appears to be asleep, and dreaming, on the 
couch of Infinitude. Notwithstanding which (apparent 
inertia), our solar body journeys forward at the fright- 
ful velocity of four hundred thousand miles per day ; 
and yet, although its speed is so great, it requires 
eighteen millions and two hundred thousand years for 
our visible sun and its planetary dependencies to revolve 
once round "Alcyone!" This primary is nearly one 
hundred and eighteen million times greater in magni- 
tude than our sun ; which again, as you well know T , is 



QUESTIONS OX THE DESPOTISM OF OPINION". 137 

many times larger than the earth, or any other related 
globe. Some stars are yet so distant, that thirty mil- 
lions of years will sink into oblivion, and infinite scores 
of human beings will live and die out of matter, ere 
their light can reach our globe ! And it will help your 
conception to remember that light can fly two hundred 
thousand miles per second. With this revelation of 
Nature before us, what shall we think of the oriental 
cosmological ideas — of the basis of the old but popular 
theology — Genesis, which maketh earth the centre of all 
creations, and the earth's inhabitants the source of infi- 
nite trouble to Deity ! 

Suppose a man should study astronomy and comprehend some- 
thing of immensity, would he not, if discordant, still believe in the 
doctrines of theology ? 

Yes ; theology is of necessity believed by those who 
are constitutionally discordant — by those who feel evils 
within — who infer therefrom the existence of devils — 
and possess, as they think, internal evidence of total 
depravity. It is a curious fact that the most vicious 
persons are the firmest believers in literal and future 
hell-punishments. Those who are enough unfortunate 
to be thieves, liars, highwaymen, pirates, slave-holders, 
and money-getting deacons, are fellow-believers and 
sometimes fellow-worshippers of the horrors and atro- 
cious decrees of popular theology. 



138 QUESTIONS ON THE DESPOTISM OF OPINION. 

When does the mind lose such belief ? 

"When the mind is well-balanced — when the person 
becomes measurably self-harmonial and as much civil- 
ized in religious matters as in current politics and in 
the commonplaces of life — then, popular theology leaves 
it as naturally and rapidly as the beasts of the forest 
flee before the peaceful march of Humanity. 

Is not a dismal theology natural to certain temperaments ? 

Yes; Theology is naturally believed by those who 
have large organs of cautiousness, secretiveness, and a 
morbid conscientiousness. These temperaments take 
judgment into custody. It is another curious fact, that 
old theology (as an opinion) never gets into the upper 
rooms of the mind. It goes far underneath — lurking 
about in the caves and dark retreats of the cerebellum 
— like a polar bear sometimes, and like a viper too, that 
keeps sequestered because knowing its place. 

Is there not much invidiousness in this assertion? 

Far from it ; in making this assertion, I do not 
forget that popular theology receives support from 
many talented and conscientious and benevolent men 
and women. But is it not worth remembering, that the 
most intelligent and courageous among its supporters 
have been apologizers for the system ? Have they not 
all failed in justifying theology to the intellectual facul- 
ties of mankind ? Dr. Adam Clarke, for example, was 



QUESTIONS ON THE DESPOTISM OF OPINION. 139 

under the necessity of writing an elaborate commentary 
on the Bible. 

Why did Dr. Clarke write his commentary ? 

lie wrote it simply to offer an explanatory apology to 
human nature for believing that which an intelligent 
and healthy Reason will eternally repudiate. 

What is a commentary ? 

A commentary is an attempt, in many cases, to defend 
and extenuate a matter which is deemed either impos- 
sible, ambiguous, contradictory, or improbable. Could 
you look into the beginning and inceptive causes of the 
various commentaries on the Bible, I know you would 
be astonished to find that each writer worked from a 
disagreeable personal necessity ; a method of allaying 
the positive protestations of the intellectual faculties 
and intuition. Dr. Beecher's recent scholastic work — 
" The Conflict of Ages " — is the most unsuccessful effort 
of a talented apologist ; to satisfy the demands of hu- 
man reason ; to subdue the " conflict " between his own 
lower and higher faculties. The last fifty years are re- 
markable for apologistical sermons. 

Does not the presence of evil in the world convince many of old 
theology ? 

Yes ; theology, as an opinion, is entertained by scores 
of honest minds, and because they cannot understand 
the origin, the nature, and the cure of evil. (Such 



140 QUESTIONS ON THE DESPOTISM OF OPINION. 

should read the Great Harmonia.) They consider evil 
to be absolute ; not relative and conditional. Many be- 
lieve that evil results from violating the verbal com- 
mands of God ; not that evils and sins (so called) take 
their rise primarily from man's ignorance of his own 
nature, and the consequent abuse of it. 

How can philosophy help the world ? 

The Ilarmonial Philosophy will do this world a mon- 
umental service by explaining the nature and demon- 
strating the cure of evil — a work which theology cannot 
do. Why not ? Because theology is an opinion — 
based, as already- seen, upon inferences, inductions, pre- 
sumptions, etc., and not upon Knowledge, which has 
no fellowship witli opinion or despotic fanaticisms. 

What other causes are there for believing- theology ? 

Theology is believed by persons who, being victimized 
from childhood, now do homage at the shrine of popu- 
lar and educational religion ; which they would not 
continue to do, if they could see that all true religion 
is innate • not educational — that all true life is from 
within, inbred and divine ; not absorbed, as a sponge 
drinks water- 

Who profess to believe theology ? 

Theology is professedly believed by persons who wor- 
ship at the shrine of policies, expediencies, compromise 



QUESTIONS ON THE DESPOTISM OF OPINION. 141 

measures, shirks, etc. ; by persons who believe Princi- 
ple to be very good in poetry and metaphysics — conge- 
nial to fanatical reformers and revolutionists — as I shall 
hereafter demonstrate. 

"Would popular theology depart with the advent of correct knowl- 
edge. 

Yes ; it is impossible for an intelligent person to be- 
lieve the myths of ancient Egypt. 

What has been the experience of those who have sought for knowl- 
edge in the empire of nature ? 

This question would require a careful compilation of 
the history of science, and a chapter descriptive of the- 
ological opposition to independent investigation. As 
this is a " delicate question," the reader will allow me 
to be silent for the next twenty minutes, giving time for 
the Weekly Pennsylvanian to answer : " We believe 
firmly, not only that the world is growing wiser, but 
better also — and nothing has conduced to this desirable 
state of facts more than the accuracy and solidity of 
modern learning. The vague mists and superstitions 
which clouded the intellect of past ages, have, in a great 
degree, been dissipated, and men begin to reason for 
themselves, and the people are willing to be guided by 
what appears in accordance with the dictates of com- 
mon sense. The instructors of youth, and the promul- 
gators of the truths of science, are no longer afraid to 



142 QUESTIONS ON THE DESPOTISM OF OPINION. 

follow the promptings of genius, by the terrors of a 
brutish public opinion, which once made whole nations 
fools or madmen. 

" When the belief was universal of the immobility of 
the earth, Copernicus conceived the idea that the sun 
was the centre of the system, and that the earth was a 
planet, like Mars and Venus, and revolved round the 
sun. And yet this founder of a new system of astron- 
omy was excommunicated from the Vatican, in 1543, 
for maintaining heretical doctrines, and the papal court 
never annulled the sentence till 1821. 

" When Galileo, his great follower in the cause of 
scientific truth, was thrown in the prison of the inquisi- 
tion, in 1633, and was compelled to solemnly renounce 
on his knees, in the presence of an assembly of igno- 
rant monks, with his hand upon the Gospel, the glori- 
ous truths he had taught, and to declare that the earth 
stood still, as he arose from his humiliating position, he 
indignantly exclaimed, stamping his foot, ' And yet it 
moves.' For this he was again assigned to the dun- 
geons for an indefinite period of time, and required to 
repeat every week, for three years, the seven penitential 
psalms of David. 

" But the Copernican system is now established, and 
has thus recommended itself to the scientific world 
though tribulation. That Tycho, Kepler, the Ilerschels, 



QUESTIONS ON THE DESPOTISM OF OPINION. 143 

and Newton, were permitted to enunciate the result of 
their labors ill peace, may be attributed to other causes, 
and in spite of the natural and universal perversity to 
sustain error. 

" Galileo and Socrates are examples of the sacrifices 
men have sometimes made for the advancement of truth, 
under adverse circumstances, and against the precon- 
ceived ideas, prejudices, and superstitions of ignorant 
ages. Columbus, Fulton, and Franklin, were all op- 
posed, each in his particular path of discovery, by the 
public sentiment by which they were surrounded, and 
nothing but their actual and unequalled triumphs saved 
them the reputation of being fit subjects for an insane 
asylum. 

" How much does the world owe to Leibnitz, Lever- 
rier, Lambert, Michael Angelo, Delambre, Descartes, 
and Galvani, for their painful and laborious mathemat- 
ical calculations, composition of forces, and great 
analyses. Blot their discoveries from existence, and all 
becomes dark, chaotic, and given to uncertainty. 

" It was fashionable twenty years ago to deny that 
the earth was more than six thousand years old, but the 
geological researches of Dr. Buckland, Professor Silli- 
man. Dr. John Pye Smith, Mr. Lyell, President Hitch- 
cock, and others, have proven by incontrovertible facts 
that it must have existed for many hundreds of thou- 



144: QUESTIONS ON THE DESPOTISM OF OPINION. 

sands of years. And yet so far from these investiga- 
tions leading to atheism, they lead to a true knowledge 
of nature. Those who contend for the limited existence 
stand on the very verge of denying indirectly the exist- 
ence of a divine power, and uproot the whole system of 
natural theology. The supposition of Chateaubriand, 
that the earth was erected just as it is, with its millions 
of fossil-shells imbedded in the rocks, would overturn 
all the foundations of Dr. Paley's theory, and lead to 
the rankest scepticism. If the mountains hoary with 
age do not give evidence of their volcanic fires for many 
centuries — if the bones of fishes with their fins were not 
intended for motion — if the eyes of the fossil insects 
were not intended — then the most admirable adapta- 
tions of the animal economy do not show design or point 
with unerring certainty to the great Architect and 
Designer. 

" Yet how often do the discoveries of true science 
pass unrecompensed, while the various systems of stulti- 
fying humbuggery meet with favor the eye and ear of 
the public. William Harvey, who discovered the circu- 
it tion of the blood, met with detraction and persecution 
that destroyed his practice and reduced him to poverty, 
while the inventors of " cough lozenges," " flumex 
bitters," " liver pills," etc., roll in wealth, and dress in 
purple and fine linen. Before the time of Francis L, 



QUESTIONS ON THE DESPOTISM OF OPINION. 145 

in the early part of the sixteenth century, the surgeons 
stanched the blood, when a limb was amputated, by the 
application of boiling pitch to the surface of the stump. 
Ambrose Bare, the principal surgeon to that king, intro- 
duced the ligature. A clamor was raised, and this ex- 
perienced surgeon was hooted and howled down by the 
faculty of physic, who ridiculed the idea of " hanging 
human life upon a thread," when boiling pitch had stood 
the test for centuries. 

" When Paracelsus, of Switzerland, introduced the 
employment of antimony as a medicine, at the instiga- 
tion of the Medical College, the French parliament 
voted it a crime, and passed an act making it a penal 
offence to administer it for any disease. 

" The Jesuits introduced into Europe the Peruvian 
bark, and in England they at once rejected the drug as 
an invention of the father of lies. Frederick the Great 
took it in spite of the remonstrances of his physicians, 
and was soon restored to health. 

" In 1792, Dr. Groerevett discovered the curative 
power of the Spanish fly in dropsy, but no sooner did 
his cures begin to be noised abroad than he 'was at once 
committed to Newgate by warrant of the president of 
the college of physicians, for prescribing cantharides 
internally. 

" Lady Mary Montague, who had spent some time in 



146 QUESTIONS ON THE DESPOTISM OF OPINION. 

Turkey, first introduced inoculation for the small-pox 
into England, as she had witnessed its happy effects dur- 
ing her foreign residence. She had tried the experi- 
ment upon her own children, and the common people 
were taught to hoot at her as an unnatural mother, who 
had risked the lives of her own offspring. The faculty 
rose in arms, foretelling failure and the most disastrous 
consequences, and the clergy descanted from their pul- 
pits on the impiety of thus seeking to take events out 
of the hands of Providence. She protested that in the 
four or five years after her arrival home, she seldom 
passed a day without repenting of her patriotic under- 
taking, and she vowed she never would have attempted 
it, had she foreseen the vexation and persecution it 
brought upon her. 

" Almost the same fate for a time overtook Dr. Jen- 
ner, who discovered the uses of vaccination. The 
Royal College of Physicians received his discovery with 
ridicule and contempt. Even religion and the Bible 
were made engines of attack against him. Erham, of 
Frankfort, gravely attempted by quotations from the 
prophetical parts of the Scriptures and the writings of 
the fathers of the Church, to prove that vaccination was 
the real Antichrist. 

" Such have been a few of the results of ignorance, 
prejudice, and intolerance. It is to be hoped that with 



QUESTIONS ON THE DESPOTISM OF OPINION. 147 

the common school, the academy, and college, the pow- 
ers of a free press, the scientific lecture-room, the general 
dissemination of substantial knowledge, that such a foot- 
hold has been obtained against the flood-tides of bigotry, 
intolerance, and ignorance, that their dark waves will 
be rolling back upon themselves, no longer to disturb 
the placid surface of an elevating and ennobling hu- 
manity. "We hope that with correct knowledge, every 
day becoming more and more diffused with the inven- 
tion of useful labor-saving machines, the pownr of the 
loom and the anvil, the steam-engine and electric tele- 
graph, the day will soon dawn, that it has alreadv come, 
when fudge and nonsense will no longer be tolerated, 
but that man everywhere and on all occasions shall deal 
in facts, not in fancy, shall state truths and not wild 
vagaries hatched amid the incubations of dark ages to 
spread abroad and plague the world. T7e hope this 
practical, sensible era has arrived, and we believe that 
with such views the world will make more prog- 
ress the next century than it has done in any five cen- 
turies heretofore in the struggles of an impeded civiliza- 
tion. Welcome an age of common sense, of correct 
views, of useful knowledge, the more useful because the 
more true." 

How shall knowledge be made to take the authority of opinion in 
churches ? 

Knowledge can be made to supersede opinion, in 



148 QUESTIONS ON THE DESPOTISM OF OPINION. 

modern churches, by calling a "convention of creeds" 
and publishing the results of such a convocation to the 
world. That is to say, let us have a senate of Christian 
and of anti-Christian leaders ; a full representation of 
each system. Each creed has some truth in it, some 
fragment of a principle, which its rival has not. 

Who could be excluded from such, a Convention ? 

Hear the Echo ! " Who could be excluded from 
such convention?" Who denied a seat in this senate? 
Who could be voted intruders — who, for opinion's sake, 
prohibited ? 

Who could be ostracized — could Fcnelon ? 

" Could Fenelon ? " — with his sovereign conviction 
that holy works and charity evidence forth the soul's re- 
generation ? 

Who could be voted alien — could Luther ? 

"Could Luther?" — with his doctrine of justification 
by faith, the inspiring element and conversative princi- 
ple of character ? 

Who could be shut out — could St. Augustine ? 

" Could St. Augustine?" — notwithstanding his dismal 
idea of the blighted majesty of all human nature ? 

Who could be repudiated — could Calvin ? 

" Could Calvin ? " — with his logical platitudes con- 
cerning foreknowledge, free will, necessity, and the nil- 
progressive, unexpansive, fallen nature of man ? 



QUESTIONS ON THE DESPOTISM OF OPINION. 149 

Could any one be passed over — could Charming ? 

" Could Channing ? " — with his belief in man's bound- 
less capabilities and endless growth ? 
Could a doubter be omitted — could Hume ? 

" Could Hume?" — with his doctrine of experience as 
the test of truth ? 

Could any one be voted heretical — could Wesley ? 
" Could Wesley ?" — with his ruling idea of a Mission- 
ary "Work ? 

Could a Friend be prohibited — could George Fox ? 

"Could George Fox?" — with his doctrine that the 
unerring Spirit of God is a guest of every regenerate 
bosom ? . 

Could a critic be discountenanced — could Voltaire ? 

" Could Voltaire ? " — with his belief that what men 
term truth is always two-thirds fable ? 

Could any seer be proscribed — could Swedenborg ? 

" Could Swedenborg?" — with his impression that the 
outer universe is but the drapery and imagery of a spirit- 
ual existence ? 

Could any liberalist be excluded— could Thomas Paine ? 

"Could Thomas Paine?" — with his conviction that 
Reason is the only reliable Revelation, and a sufficient 
rule of faith and practice ? 

Could any person be tabooed — could John Murray ? 

"Could John Murray?" with his belief in the final 



150 QUESTIONS ON THE DESPOTISM OF OPINION. 

holiness and happiness of all mankind, and the restitu- 
tion of all things ? 

Could any woman be repulsed — could Ann Lee ? 

"Could Ann Lee?" — with her doctrine of the differ- 
ence between the Jewish and Gentile Christian church, 
of the carnality of outer marriage, and of perpetual in- 
spiration ? 

Could any professedly honest person be shut out— could Joseph 
Smith ? 

" Could Joseph Smith ?" — with his doctrine of a new 
Jerusalem, in the form of a Mormon organization ? 

Could any leading mind, in America or across the Atlantic, be de- 
nied a representation in this senate of creeds ? 

Echo still responds: " Could any be denied?" Nay ; 
for these leaders, or their followers rather, are unable to 
form true estimates of each other. Each system, having 
obtained and bodied forth some truth, and knowing 
little or nothing of its neighbor, arrogates infallibility 
for its declarations. Opinion becomes law. Each sets 
desperately and spitefully upon the other. Instead of 
rejoicing and being happy in each other's earnestness 
and eloquence and efforts for man, and playing frater- 
nally into each other's hands, the sects stoutly refuse 
hospitality and acquaintance, and strive to force one 
creed upon all mankind as the sum of truth in religion. 
They separate themselves into bigoted organizations — 



QUESTIONS ON THE DESPOTISM OF OPINION. 151 

exhibiting folly and wickedness, passion and imbecility — 
and thus defeat the good which the best believers have 
in view. 

What may be said of priests and churches ? 

Priests and churches, without knowing it, have de- 
serted the path of truth. The dignity of an everlasting 
principle has been given to opinions : and the dismal 
opinions of theology tend to debase the mind, and 
plunge men into despondency. 

Is priestly influence against human unity ? 

Yes ; priests have separated themselves from others, 
in humbler social positions ; and have made men sus- 
picious of each other. 

What is the theology of priests ? 

Their theology is a compound of love and hate, of 
heaven and hell, of rewards and punishments ; and its 
teachers, all unconscious to themselves, breathe the 
spirit of hate and human differences, even while their 
theme is " love." Thus they divide men, and sacrifice 
the interests of individuals upon the blood-stained altars 
of sects and priesthoods. They are no friends to free 
thought, to free speech, to free action. They fear the 
human heart ; they would vilify and set bounds to its 
God-ordained attractions. Opinion teaches the corrup- 
tions of reason ; and the trcacherousness of its best dic- 
tations. Opinion teaches the superiority of past tradi- 



152 QUESTIONS ON THE DESPOTISM OF OPINION. 

tions to present truths. And priests would have Geology 
retain her secrets, and Astronomy withhold her starlight, 
rather than see discredit thrown upon modern creeds 
which rest upon ancient chronicles. 

Suppose we leave creeds and churches, what shall we do ? 

We are free to communicate with the divine revela- 
tions of our Mother-Nature. Her sweet melodious 
voices are ever-cheering ; her revelations ever-welcome 
to her children. She invites them to worship in the 
cathedral of immensity. Her ministers are the expanded 
earth, the unfolded heavens, the stars above, the spheres 
that swell out into the depths beyond, and all the myriad 
hosts who live and love upon them. The unalterable 
universe, both positive and negative — material and 
spiritual, is your Sacred Book ! This is the word of 
Father-God — containing his promises, his purposes, his 
principles — superior to steam-presses, to the despotism 
of Opinion ! A proper study of its pages, so beautifully 
embellished by angel-hands, expands the genius of wis- 
dom — making men active, courageous, harmonial, Beau- 
tiful. It tells man to be honest and sociable, to be 
reasonable and peaceable, to be just and fear not. The 
immutable Laws of this Book are our rules of life ; and 
perfect obedience to them is our virtue and our religion. 

What position do we now occupy, as practical denizens of the 
globe ? 

We occupy a transition place ; our feet press the 



QUESTIONS ON TUE DESPOTISM OF OPINION. 153 

planks of that temporary bridge which connects the 
past with the future; midway between the inferior and 
the better era ; with much of both, with neither practi- 
cally. Y^hile the sun of pure wisdom, just rising over 
the brow of the Better Day, sheddeth its delightful rays 
upon the topmost minds on earth, the darkness of popu- 
lar Theology — seen by them to be a despotic opinion 
without knowledge — appeareth all the more hideous 
and repugnant. The valleys of human life — the 
archives and alcoves of existing Doctrines — appear 
more and yet more uncongenial ; a repugnance which 
increaseth sevenfold, as we continue to ascend the Alpine 
heights of the pure impersonal Reason. The light of 
the future makctli the night of the past darker ; while 
our oponents, the comfortably-housed and the mythic- 
valley people, see nothing of this and have no such real- 
izations. Gladly, we turn our steps from darkness — 
gladly, we look forward — away, up the hill to the City 
of the living God ! The Past? that has worshipped 
imaginary beings ; the Future % that will work for 
Humanity I 
7* 



QUESTIONS ON THE MARTYRDOM OF JESUS. 



The ponderous cavalcade of solar bodies along the 
Milky Way is not more majestically grand than the un- 
broken march of human ages up the path of Time. I 
have been listening to the Past. It is vocal with sounds 
innumerable; with sounds of glad thanksgiving ; and 
songs, also, of lamentations and spiritual distress. 

The tides of life, setting their omnipotent currents 
through human affairs, have wafted the wrecks of 
different nations, different systems of government, and 
different religions — each bearing the mark of some 
chief, monarch, or martyr. Reverberating through the 
moss-clad dome of distant ages is heard the sad song of 
expiring heroes — the dying sob of the fire-dressed 
martyr — triumphing over wrath and hatred and every 
trial, with a god-like might, seemingly defeated, but 
unfailingly victorious. Amid the gathering clouds of 
smoke, and through the folds of tempestial fire, the 
martyr sees angel faces full of joy ! 

What are the characteristics of a true martyr ? 

A true martyr is one who bravely meets terrors and 



QUESTIONS ON TIIE MARTYRDOM OF JESUS. 155 

tortures, imposed by many and strong enemies, rather 
than relinquish or disavow a cherished conviction ; one 
who, with a moral enthusiasm transcending the instinct 
of self-preservation and every selfish motive, fearlessly 
embraces death in its most terrific form, in order to 
bear faithful witness to the sovereignty of some divine 
principle. 

Where shall we look for the world's true martyrs ? 

Open the history of Asia, the history of Europe, the 
history of America ; and behold the martyrdom of the 
great and good. 'Neath earth's flowery bosom lie the 
smouldering ruins of nameless men and women — who 
have made personal resistance to crime and to tyrants — 

" Where do they sleep ? the fearless and the true, 
Whose holy deeds around their pathway threw 

A glorious light — 
A light which, streaming o'er the mists of time, 
TUnmines every age and every clime 
With radiance bright." 

Is it not natural to revere the birthplace of Jesus ? 

The Christian's sensitive reverence for Palestine, the 
native land of his Saviour, is both natural and beauti- 
ful. The elements and aspirations of patriotism, of 
poetry, of pathos, of prayer, of perfection — yea-, all the 
tender sentiments of filial love, all the sacred prejudices 
and imaginations concerning religion, all the painful 
struggles of time and the awful mysteries of eternity — 



156 QUESTIONS ON THE MARTYRDOM OF JESUS. 

come forth at the magic touch of this strange, eventful 
history. The lone star of Bethlehem, to the poetic be- 
liever, hath the effulgence of a thousand suns. The 
Sowings of the sacred waters, over the bright sands and 
along the purple shores of the Holy Land, seem like the 
golden sounds which fed the silent air of Eden. Gently 
descend the dews of llermon. The widow's overladen 
heart findeth rest beneath the welcoming shade of the 
Cedars of Lebanon. The winds of the sea of Galilee 
steal with dream-like stillness over the fertile plains of 
Judea. To the banks of the baptismal river the Christ- 
ian goes for contemplation. It sings a song to him 
whose " raiment was of camel's hair." And it breathes 
blessings upon him who " came from Galilee to be 
baptized." Its music leaves her soul upon his heart. 
" He casts a wishful eye to Canaan's fair and happy 
land " — and yearningly, looks forward with faith and 
hope to the place " where the wicked cease from troub- 
ling." No ! I do not wonder that Palestine is a " Holy 
Land " to him who entirely believes, that one of its 
rural barns was the palace which shut from vulgar eyes 
the birth of a heaven-descended Prince — that one of its 
uncarved and uncushionecl mangers cradled the Eternal 
Saviour of the World — whose feet had pressed the soil ; 
whose sympathetic tears had watered it ; whose breath, 
freighted with words of comfort for the friendless sons 



QUESTIONS ON THE MARTYRDOM OF JESUS. 157 

of men, had mingled with the air ; and whose hand 
had written in the sand, " Let the sinless man cast the 
first stone." 

What does history relate on this subject ? 

Sacred history relates that, in twilight's pensive hour, 
a younir man sought the wilderness. Retiring winds 
waved the dreary depths, and music made of melan- 
choly sort. He had travelled in Egypt ; lived there till 
the death of Ilerod. Golden domes of pride, sacred 
temples of error, and towers of war, he had seen ; had 
met and mingled with the world. But the spirit of God 
moved within. And the angels, lifting their voices o'er 
the wilderness, bade him " Onward." With pathos true 
and touching, the voices of Mother-Xature spake to his 
weary soul. Anon, the heavens opened : and he u saw 
a spirit from Father-God, descending like a dove." 
Then a voice said : " This is my beloved Son, in whom 
I am well pleased." 

What may be said of the Jews in this connection ? 

The Jews were the most imbecile worshippers of 
Force, and knew not the Father. They were worship- 
ping the imaginary God of the patriarchs and prophets ; 
not the unfailing Source of the spirits of all men. They 
studied a creed ; not the volume of creation. The Jews 
were the best and the worst of men : virtuous and 
vicious, witty, serious, and sometimes gay ; learned in 



158 QUESTIONS ON THE MARTYRDOM OF JESUS. 

man} r arts, generous and brave at times; invariably 
hypocritical and avaricious, equally iniidclic and faith- 
ful, materialistic and spiritual. 

" The Jews must be taught the way, the truth, and the 
life," said the young men, . . . and, after forty days of 
interior preparation, he went forth to teach. 

According to Bible history, who heard him gladly ? 

The poor heard him gladly ; mainly, because he was 
born of the humblest among them ; and advocated their 
cause. lie opened his mouth and taught the multitude; 
and he healed many that were sick. He did this with- 
out reading from the then popular bible, or using rem- 
edies from the then orthodox drug-store. 

What followed this repudiation of the then popular authorities ? 

The physicians and lawyers and clergymen of the 
time reasoned against his claims ; they doubted his 
power of discerning spirits ; and openly ridiculed his 
psycho-magnetic miracles. Some of his own converts 
traduced and deserted him. And they had hi in arrested 
on a charge of heresy to the Jewish church, and conspir- 
acy against the Roman government. They tried him 
without justice; and crucified him without mercy. 
"What a great martyrdom ! "What a faithful witness 
did he bear to the Father-God who inspired him; a 
martyr to his spiritual principles ! 



QUESTIONS ON THE MARTYRDOM OF JESUS. 159 

According- to recent discoveries in psychical science, how would you 
explain the birth of Jesus ? 

Matter is the servant of mind. Nothing is more ob- 
vious than the sympathetic alliance of these two eternal 
principles. Mind is the moving Principle : matter is 
the Principle which is moved. And it is well estab- 
lished that the productive mind influences and moulds 
the body and soul before as well as after birth. History 
is brimful of examples, and settles the doctrine as true, 
that the unborn child is psychologized by the maternal 
spirit. (See 3d vol. of Great Ilarmonia.) 

Can you not give examples of maternal psychology ? 

Yes ; there are many examples. Five months before 
the birth of Caligula, the Roman emperor, his mother 
dreamed that a supernatural being brought from the sky 
and gave her an eagle, which changed slowly into a 
venomous serpent, and was stoned to death by the mul- 
titude. The angel said : " The eagle is power ; the ser- 
pent is tyranny ; the last is assassination." Justified by 
her imagination only, she insisted that the history of her 
unborn child had been symboled forth. This terrible 
impression acted like a charm upon the coming spirit; 
and, lo, the life and death of Caligula was an exact ful- 
filment of his mother's dream. 

What happened to the mother of Nero ? 

In a dream the mother of Nero saw a dove descend, 



160 QUESTIONS ON THE MAETYEDOM OF JESUS. 

holding in its mouth a scorpion, wliich was dropped upon 
her bosom, and presently stung itself to death. A few 
weeks prior to the birth of her son, this dream was re- 
peated. She said it denoted peace, first; next, persecu- 
tion i the last, suicide. And the history of Nero was 
an exact correspondence. 

Had the mother of Moses such experience ? 

Yes ; while in the house of Levi, a young woman 
had an impressive dream in which she beheld a beauti- 
ful damsel, leaning over the river's brink, with her 
sweet face beaming compassionately upon the form of 
an innocent child. Presently. this child became a great 
man ; and his might was felt in all the earth. An 
angel now descended from a high mountain, and said : 

" Behold ! so shall it be with thy son." Not 

long after this dream, the woman became the bride of a 
distant kinsman. And twice before the birth of her 
first child, the same dream was impressed upon her; 
and the same angel appeared, with the same message. 
Of course the psychological effect was complete. Her 
son's name was " Moses." 

Can you mention an example less remote ? 

Yes ; a woman of considerable physical courage 
mounted a horse, rode side by side with her soldier- 
husband, and witnessed the drilling of the troops for 
battle. The exciting music and scene together inspired 



QUETTIONS ON THE MARTYRDOM OF JESUS. 161 

her with a deep thirst to behold a war and a conquest. 
This event transpired a few months before the birth of 
her child, whose name was — " Napoleon ! " 

Relate the history of psychological effect wrought upon the siprit of 
Dante's mother ? 

During the important period immediately preceding 
the birth of Dante, his young mother saw a vision of 
startling grandeur and great depth of significance. She 
beheld a populated globe, of symmetrical proportions, 
rise gradually out of the sea, and float midheavens. It 
was decorated with every conceivable element of natural 
and artificial beauty. Upon a high and grand moun- 
tain, which melted away into the distant horizon and 
sloped gracefully into lands and lakes that spread out 
to the left, stood a man with a brilliant countenance, 
whom she knew to be her son. Pointing with his up- 
raised hand, he bade her look down to the right of the 
mountain. She beheld a precipice of abrupt descent ; 
like the wall of an immeasurable gulf, with depth un- 
known. Whereupon she thought she fainted with ex- 
cess of fright. But her son was serene as a morning 
star ; and, looking again, she saw no evil. After this 
beautiful and thrilling vision, Dante's mother had only 
in view the greatness of her unborn child — whose genius 
as a scholar and poet, as the creator of a world of 
fancies, is known throughout all the lands of civilization. 



1G2 QUESTIONS ON TIIE MARTYRDOM OF JESUS. 

Are there other illustrations of the marvellous effects of mind upon 
the unborn child ? 

In further illustration, I might refer to hundreds of 
similar cases among poets, painters, musicians, mathe- 
maticians, and religious chieftains. One more instance, 
however, will suffice: to demonstrate the mysterious 
influence of mind upon matter ; and more particularly, 
to prove the predisposing effect which a mother's spir- 
itual convictions exert upon her coming offspring. The 
wife of a very poor but respectable mechanic dreamed 
several times, before the birth of her child, that an 
angel came to her and said : " Hail ! thou art highly 
favored — the Lord is with thee." The angel looked 
lovingly down upon her ; and she, not comprehending 
the intent of his message, was troubled. But the spir- 
itual visitor soon allayed her anxiety, by saying . " Fear 
not — thou shalt bring forth a son, and thou shalt call 
his name Jesus .... he shall be called the son of the 
Highest .... he shall reign over the house of David 
forever .... and of his kingdom there shall be no 
end." In due course of time this woman's impressible 
imagination was operating, with full belief, expecting 
the literal fulfilment of her vision. The result was 
accurately daguerreotyped upon the spirit of her unborn 
babe. And this person lived and died on the scene of 
history, as if his whole soul — impelled by some super- 



QUESTIONS ON TOE MARTYRDOM OF JESUS. 1G3 

natural predisposition — was struggling to fill the sub- 
lime and immense measure of his mother's dream ! 

What is there so wonderful in a name ? 

" Jesus " is the Greek for the Hebrew word " Joshua ; " 
and the term " Saviour " is the English rendering. The 
word "Christ "was annexed to distinguish him from 
many others bearing the first name. " Messiah " is the 
Hebrew for the Greek word " Christ ; " and the term 
" Anointed " is the English translation. The Jews 
called every political or religious Chieftain the Lord's 
Anointed — because their doctrine was theocratic — thus, 
Saul and David and Solomon were considered the 
especial agents of God ; and Isaiah calls Cyiius " the 
Lord's Anointed," which is the same as the word Christ, 
or Messiah. " Christ " is a term which literally signi- 
fies a divinel} T -commissioncd Agent or diplomatized 
Physician. It would be perfectly correct, therefore, to 
say — " Joshua, the physician," to designate him among 
the inhabitants of Palestine ; or, still more literal, 
" Doctor Joshua, the Martyr of Calvary " — thus giving 
to this spiritual Essenian a just and sufficiently con- 
spicuous position among the world's great martyrdoms. 

What can we be certain of in his early history ? 

Aside from the penetrations of clairvoyance, and 
without the testimony of spirits in daily correspondence 



164 QUESTIONS ON THE MAETYEDOM OE JESUS. 

with men, there is nothing known of Joshua's childhood 
and youth. 

What did the early philosophers say ? 

Very little ; nothing reliable. Celsus, an Epicurean 
philosopher of the second century, testifies that Jesus 
(or Joshua) spent several of his childish and youthful 
years in one of the most densely-populated spots of 
Egypt ; that while there, he acquired considerable intel- 
ligence — and learned the art of healing by mysterious 
words and manipulation ; and that, after returning to 
Palestine, he assumed a special mission, and professed 
to hold an incomprehensible correspondence with the 
Father of spirits. But Origen, a primitive Christian 
father, regarded Celsus as a heretic, and answered him 
accordingly. 

What may be said concerning his reputation ? 

The wilderness of Judea echoed to the herald-notes 
of good, honest John. lie sowed the seed in Palestine, 
but expected to reap on the other side of Jordan. 
Joshua seemed to have had no understanding that he 
was the person referred to — and so, being of a religious 
cast of character, went like any other converted spirit 
" unto John to be baptized." But John "forbade him," 
and said — " I have need to be baptized of thee." 
Here, doubtless, Joshua, felt the hidden voice of his ■mo- 
ther's dream ; and, with a beautiful grace which be- 



QUESTIONS ON THE MAETYEDOM OF JESUS. 165 

came his earnest soul, lie baptized the prophet. And 
forthwith his friends had, as they supposed, reason to 
expect great words and greater deeds. His fame " went 
throughout all Syria ;" because he had cured many sick. 

Shall we say that this reputation became a misfortune ? 

We love to have miracles wrought for the single 
glorious purpose of benefiting suffering humanity. 
And we love to contemplate Joshua in this unselfish 
work ; a motive which alone actuated his first efforts. 
After a while, however, we behold him working, so to 
speak, for his reputation. "That we may know," he 
says (Matt. ix. C), " that the Son of man hath power on 
earth to forgive sins " — then he healed the sick of the 
palsy ! His miracles, instead of serving the good of the 
suffering merely, were appealed to by him and others 
as proof 'positive of his divine commission. (See John 
x. 37 ; xi. 15; xv. 2, etc.) 

Jesus had extraordinary power ; was that power limited ? 

"Command these stones to become bread," said the 
spiritual sceptics. Did he give them a sign ? The 
populace did not believe in physical manifestations. 
They reepvired evidence. " If thou be king of the 
Jews, save thyself." He was nailed to the cross, and 
had the reputation of being both a medium and a god. 
But could he draw a nail % Could he descend from the 



166 QUESTIONS ON THE MAUTYKDOM OF JESITS. 

cross by any supernatural means % If so, why not % 
All that the people asked for was — " evidence." Strange 
history ! a table never moved, a chair never trembled, 
water never became wine, when the skeptics asked for 
a manifestation. No ! but the wonders were wrought 
when the Professor Faradays, and the President Ila- 
hans, and the savans, of those days — were not prepared 
to detect the methods of deception. Joshua was said to 
be almighty. Yet the success of his might was condi- 
tional. " He did not many wonderful works, because 
of their unbelief" Vic marvel that man could limit 
thus the ways of God. Upon rational laws, however, 
all is quickly explained. 

Is truth aided when we confound persons with principles ? 

Nothing is more unfortunate. The universal dei- 
fication of local persons, and the consequent co extensive 
obscuration of general Principles, is a familiar phenom- 
enon in the religious world. Perhaps it should be de- 
scribed and deplored as a reptilian error, gnawing 
perpetually at the heart of man's native religion — as an 
invidious serpent crawling about in the garden of his 
soul, ever tempting the higher sentiments to substitute 
persons for principles — inducing the spirit to worship 
empty creeds and godless ceremonies, as if these were 
the summum bonum of all saving righteousness. 



QUESTTOXS ON TIIE MARTYRDOM OF JESUS. 167 

Should we hold Jesus responsible for the shortcomings and mis- 
takes of his professed followers ? 

No true harmonial philosopher, no rational modern 
spiritualist, will ever hold Jesus responsible for the in- 
numerable absurdities of many who claim him as 
" Master." The holy principles of that spiritual reli- 
gion which was patented by the bench of Bishops under 
Constantine and labelled ""Christian " by later and lesser 
authorities, would be transcendentally effulgent and 
magnetically attractive, could it be but safely exhumed 
from the popular cemetery of ghostly creeds. "Well- 
meaning clergymen there are in abundance who walk 
through the streets of their profession, with step attuned 
to mournful measure, dressed in garments of grief, a 
cloud enveloping each face, as if unexpectedly bereft of 
some world-wide benefactor. Alas ! it is too true. They 
have destroyed their best friend. It is the departure of 
Nature's own religion. The Christ-principle of uni- 
versal Love * has been sepulchred beneath a solemn 
outward hero-worship of the Martyr of Calvary. 

" All hail the power of Jesus' name, 
Let angels prostrate fall ; 
Bring forth the royal diadem. 
And crown him lord of all" 

Time hath been when my spirit marvelled at the ex- 
travagance of this "obituary notice," at this ghostly 
* The reader is referred to more ample explanations, of Jesus and 
the Christ-principle, in subsequent pages. 



168 QUESTIONS ON THE MARTYBDOM OF JESUS. 

procession of priest and parish — but I was but a child 
then, and saw delight, as many still do, in things of 
show and circumstance. Now 1 half sympathize with 
these mourners, and I half call them to repentance. 
The system and forms of religion I term supernat- 
uralism. On the first day of each week, according to 
the most approved almanac, our evangelical clergy visit 
the cemetery of supernaturalism — the system and cere- 
monies of religion ! This " churchyard " hath a sorrow- 
ful history. The fearful tempests of eighteen centuries 
have passed over it. Creedal strifes and sectarian 
storms, that have rolled down these grim and gory ages 
with the terrible strength of a thousand cataracts, have 
swept day and night through the sepulchral caverns of 
this deadly place ; and the vampyrean voices of terrors 
and tortures and miseries dark that have cursed and 
crushed humanity — all mingle their sobs with the hid- 
eous bellowing of Romish Hulls, with the deep, hollow 
barking of Protestant Dogmas, with the sickly mewing 
of the Westminster Shorter Catechism. Every sabbath 
the clergy visit this cemetery, and, aided, by such as 
feel disposed, mourn o'er the moss-covered grave of 
Nature's own religion. 

What is the ceremony which is attached to this burial ? 
The burial ceremony, which is modified more or less 
by each sect, consists— first, in singing " Hark from the 



QUESTIONS ON THE MAETYRDOM OF JESUS. 169 

tombs " — second, an invocation to an unknown god — 
third, reading through, and remarking upon "the 
Northwest passage " of some handsomely-bound book — 
fourth, preaching a funeral discourse with the ghost of 
an old idea for a text — fifth, another song of sadness 
and supplication — sixth, a benediction, with a promise 
to meet next Sunday and rehearse the drama of bury- 
ing " Christ in creeds," or absolute religion in its fash- 
ionable surroundings. Practical and undefiled religion 
once consisted in a well-ordered life of universal good 
will — but consists now in believing the creed, in adher- 
ing to the form, in being popular, and rejecting the 
doctrine of progressive development. 

What is the consequence of the deification of persons ? 

All inequality is productive of discord: all over-state- 
ment is inj ustice ; and the deification of persons is a 
" spot on the sun " of righteousness. Every exaggera- 
tion of supposed gods, every over-statement of the 
wisdom of spirits, is followed by a corresponding dimi- 
nution of mankind. 

Can you explain your idea more at length ? 

If you take from man's character to enrich the char- 
acter of the gods (of spirits or angels), the penalty is 
heaviest with man : for man, not gods, needs elevation. 
You dress your gods and saints in richest robes ; while 
on your own person hang innumerable rags and tatters ! 



170 QUESTIONS ON THE MAETYEDOM OF JESUS. 

If I were to tell you the exact reason why we see so 
few noble men and noble women among Christians — so 
little individual integrity and self -sustained intelligence 
— I should say, in the main, that the people have 
allowed themselves to be led captive by unspiritual 
teachers ; have, in short, put their souls upon a gilded 
waiter, and, with bended knee and unreasoning rever- 
ence, presented them to the gods of tradition and the 
times. In truth, the Christian world has given so much 
intellectual wealth toward maintaining in poetic ele- 
gance the celestial aristocracy — toward praising and ex- 
tolling the virtues and qualifications of the godheads — 
that, now, the people have not enough veneration for 
human heads remaining to commence even a respect- 
able retail business in the line of practical individual 
Religion ! 

How shall we apply this in justice to martyrs ? 

By magnifying the trials and sufferings of Joshua — 
who wrought but thirty -six months for humanity — we 
take away our sympathy from those who need (if they 
do not deserve) it more a thousand-fold. 

Besides Joshua, are there not other martyrs ? 

The body of Joshua could not suffer more than those 
by his side ; and his soul, being lifted by the conscious- 
ness of self-sacrifice to a principle, must have suffered 
less. There is such joy in right-doing ? Shall we not 



QUESTIONS ON THE MAKTTKDOM OF JESUS. 171 

think of Stephen, Peter, Paul ; of the martyrs of Italy, 
Spain, Portugal ; of the victims to the French revolution. 
The manly martys to science — Galileo, Tj 7 cho Brahe, 
Copernicus, Kepler — of the inventor, rapt in the idea of 
" Eureka," insensible to poverty and disease which set 
upon him like wolves upon their prey — shall we not 
think of these with justice? 

Are there different phases of martyrdom ? 

Yes ; there are others still — the artist, the musician, 
the needlewoman, the orphan, the deformed, the insane ! 
What living martyrs, these ! Open the history of indi- 
viduals, and behold the martyrs to envy, to jealousy, to 
misunderstanding, to a bad temper, to a bad marriage, 
to wrongs unwritten, to evils not yet revealed ! This 
spiritual martyrdom is not comparable with physical 
crucifixion. Many there are who carry about with them 
an inveterate foe to private peace and to public useful- 
ness — some hateful habit or poisonous propensity — pur- 
suing their conscience day and night : a perpetual mar- 
tyrdom from which they may not escape. Suck nail 
themselves to the cross, give up the ghost many times 
a year, and sweat great drops of agony when alone j 
These are self -crucified — upon whom good angels look, 
with tearful eyes and saving sympathies ! 

What is martyrdom usually a result of ? 

Martyrdom is the result of an individual protest 



172 QUESTIONS ON THE MARTYRDOM OF JESUS. 

against crime — of personal rebuke to ages of wrongs 
and mistakes ; the forcible crucifixion of one imbued 
with the conviction that " resistance to Tyrants is obe- 
dience to God." Viewed in the light of an individual 
protest, to a religion of forms and a government of poli- 
cies, the crucifixion of the Son of Joseph and Mary is a 
glorious example of spiritual supremacy. Despotic opin- 
ion drives in the earth a stake of iron, Ignorance chains 
a reformer to it, Prejudice brings the fagots, Fanaticism 
kindles the flame, the State smiles approvingly, the 
Church makes a prayer, and the shell of an immortal 
being is burned to ashes ! Poor disciples of Ignorance ! 
little do they think that the martyr's pile is " a chariot of 
fire " on which his soul rides into the kingdom of hea- 
ven ! The Reformer's grosser form, his spirit's cover- 
ing, may be dissolved in the flame ; but the Thought — 
the idea, the principle, for which he died — that lives 
after him. Nature hath ordained that children shall 
reap the harvest of error-seeds sown by their f oref athers ; 
and learn thus, perforce of a consequent necessity, to 
till and plant and eat with truth. 

Can you illustrate this law of justice in Nature ? 

Yes; I can let you into the idea by means of a para- 
ble. A mythical tradition relates that the earth was 
once inhabited only by twelve valiant and ambitious 
knights ; at a period when there was neither sun nor 



QUESTIONS ON THE MARTYRDOM OF JESUS. 173 

moon, and the world was swimming in an ether of un- 
broken blackness. One among the twelve, more beau- 
tiful and gentle than the rest, became the victim of 
their envy and ambition. Under pretext to destroy 
him, each challenged the other to combat : making the 
conditions of defeat, certain and immediate death by 
burning. Accordingly a large fire was kindled, and 
the warriors proceeded to fierce contentions — when, by 
the concerted force of the others, the most beautiful 
and envied knight was made to yield, and, as in the 
case of Joseph, was sacrificed by his jealous brethren. 
He was thrown into the flames which quickly consumed 
his body, and it disappeared in the burning pile ; but, 
lo ! as his life was extinguished on earth, in the same 
rapidly progressive manner, there came out in the fir- 
mament a Golden Sun — giving forth heat and light, 
illuminating the broad surface of nature, awakening 
birds of song, and unfolding flowers in strong places ! 
With a wonder surpassing speech, the envious knights 
recognized in the face of the glorious sun the spirit of 
their beautiful and innocent brother. Beholding his 
triumphant resurrection, they were mortified at their 
own defeat. Ambitious of a similar promotion, one of 
their number leaped into the fire, and experienced the 
tortures of burning; but as his head disappeared in the 
flames, the remaining ten beheld the appearance of a 



174 QUESTIONS ON THE MAKTYRDOM OE JESUS. 

pale and sickly moon whose comparative insignificance 
deterred them from further search after glory in that 
direction. 

What truth does this fable illustrate ? 

This fable typifies a sublime truth ; it bodies forth 
the destiny of two classes. He who aspires to the mar- 
tyrs crown of thorns, to the end that he may be famous 
and popular in history, becomes but a pale satellite in 
the firmament of Justice ; while, on the contrary, he 
who, forgetful of self, dies by the hand of violence to 
vindicate what he considered to be a great Principle, 
comes out like a golden Orb in the starry dome which 
overarches the temple of Humanity. 

Is there a principle of distributive justice in the affairs of the 
world ? 

There is an irresistible Gulf Stream of distributive 
justice, with ebbless tide, palpitating with deific energy, 
setting straight through the Ocean of human life, which 
compels a benefited posterity to crown with glory the 
Man who suffered martyrdom by mistaken ancestors. 
Children bless what fathers curse. And the martyr 
awakes, Phoenix-like, from his ashes, and soars o'er the 
fields of former persecution, unmolested evermore and 
cheered with songs of praise. 

' ' Thus the world goes round and round, 
And the genial seasons run — 
And ever the truth conies uppermost, 
And ever is justice done ! " 



QUESTIONS ON THE MARTYRDOM OF JESUS. 175 

What are your impressions concerning the infallibility and stan- 
dardship of the Old and New Testaments ? 

It should go abroad, that this (the Ilarmonial) plat- 
form, so long as I have anything to do with it, is free, 
in the largest possible acceptation of the word, to every 
person of goodness of motive, himself being the judge, 
to controvert or correct any position which may be taken. 
It is to be understood, therefore, that I am always in a 
condition of mind to be taught. I welcome all persons 
who differ from me in regard to the Scriptures. Let us 
all seek the path of rectitude and righteousness. 

Are all readers prepared to look at this question dispassionately ? 

No ; it seems to me that many are not simple-minded 
enough to get at the plain unvarnished truth. Many 
are too much afraid of the speech of the world ; not 
enough in possession of their own faculties and individ- 
uality ; all the time fearing that they shall utter some 
sentiment which will be heralded throughout the world 
as too radical, and heretical absolutely, to the recognized 
doctrines of the Christian system. Of this class I know 
there are many. I know also that there are a few, a 
blessed group, who, standing beautifully above such fear, 
have attained unto considerable truth in the way of in- 
dependent investigation ; not only by interrogating what 
are called the manifestations of spirituality, but, also, 
by a free and candid examination of the cardinal doc- 



176 QUESTIONS ON THE MARTYRDOM OF JESUS. 

trines which underlie the Churches of the Nineteenth 
Century. It will be found that those who have inves- 
tigated the semi-popular spiritual phenomena, who have 
interpreted for the soul's benefit the principles of Chris- 
tianity, and arisen above the standards recognized as or- 
thodox by the world, are persons whose marks and works 
will be looked upon by the people of the future ages, 
not as authorities, but as guideboards to still greater 
and higher revelation. 

What do ministers say concerning the Scriptures ? 

We are told by honorable gentlemen who keep the 
pulpits, that the Bible is the inspired truth ; the word 
of God. Now, it would be entirely just to ask : how is 
it possible for ministers to make this assertion intelli- 
gently, unless they have received and comprehended a 
superior revelation ? 

How is it possible for any natural-minded man, one who has mere- 
ly gone through the colleges and been otherwise artificially prepared 
for the ministry, to have sufficient illumination wherewith to pro- 
nounce the Bible to be surely and truly the word of God ? 

It is impossible. To accept that as truth which is 
not within the comprehension of the intellect, is a posi- 
tion similar to that taken by every leader and devotee 
in heathenism. One man, for example, believes in 
Juggernaut because it was believed in by his forefath- 
ers ; not because of any understanding concerning it. 



QUESTIONS ON THE MARTYRDOM OF JESUS. 177 

Another believes that all religious truth has descended 
from on high, through the Shaster of Hindoostan. 
Why i Because it is said so by the masters and wor- 
shippers of that great production. So it is in our own 
vast country. Plenty of persons there are, even my 
next-door neighbors, who believe the Bible to be. " the 
word of God." Do they believe because of intellectual 
apprehension of any principle contained in it ? — because 
of any wise comprehension of the scope and drift of the 
whole ? No. Why, then, do they believe ? I answer, 
in consequence of the teachings of their fathers and 
forefathers — of those about them who occupy high places, 
clothed with a little brief authority — whom, even from 
the earliest youth, they were taught to reverence as the 
true teachers of this book and its truths. How can we 
pronounce that to be supernatural, unless we have a 
revelation superior to it, by which to comprehend and 
decide the question ? To affirm that the Bible is truly 
and totally the communication of God, through different 
men to the world's inhabitants, without any supernatural 
revelation (which modern ministers do not profess to 
have), is, to say the least, an appropriation of authority 
based upon opinion, which more simple-mindedness 
would banish from the intellectual and wisdom facul- 
ties. 



178 QUESTIONS ON THE MARTYEDOM OF JESUS. 

Does the general niind easily recognize, through facts, the exist- 
ence of a principle ? 

Nothing is clearer to me than that the human mind, 
when in its highest condition, naturally recognizes prin- 
ciples ; and recognizes, also, that those principles tend to 
external embodiment, for instance, there is a princi- 
ple of architecture in the human mind. "What then ? 
In the course of human development, houses are built, 
ships are constructed, and different forms and structural 
beauties come forth on both land and sea ; they come as 
the external manifestations of a principle in the soul of 
man. So, also, in the soul, there is a principle of Love. 
This principle is an abstract, a vital, essence ; but comes 
directly outward into manifestations. It begets the 
blessed relations of brother and sister, the relations ex- 
isting between child and parent, between husband and 
wife, relations which go on backward and forward, 
interlocking and interlacing throughout, binding the 
world together. Then homes are sought and found. 
All the delightful experiences of home, and all the be- 
witchments and inversionisms of society, are the external 
manifestations of this soul-principle called Love ; so, 
also, is every other relation and event and condition the 
result of some principle in the constitution of man, flow- 
ing into outward embodiment and expression. As soon 
as men feel an affection for something, they get the 



QUESTIONS ON THE MARTYRDOM OF JESUS. 179 

intellectual impulse to cany out and accomplish. The 
emotion to construct a house or a steamship, is followed, 
in due time, by the executive power by which to elabo- 
rate that emotion. In a word, there is an attribute of 
wisdom in the mind — a power to express outward order, 
form, and proportion — by which man intuitively sees 
eternal principles. 

Does this principle of wisdom come also into open manifestation ? 

Yes ; and with it cometh another manifestation — the 
worship of the manifestation — exposing the soul's utter 
forgetf ulness of their source. Many persons there are, 
who, having come out from Catholicism, look back into 
the Romish Church and wonder how intelligent minds 
can still worship at the shrine of Idols and graven 
Images. Now, I tell you that an intelligent Cath- 
olic looks directly through the image of Virgin Mary to 
the principle which she is supposed to represent. But 
another, less intelligent and more material, thinks he 
must worship the object. So, there are Christians in 
this country occupying the same position in reference to 
this question of the Bible. 

What do you mean by this assertion ? 

I mean that they forget the divine principle in man 
which seeks to express itself in books, in ideas, in 
shadows, types, and symbols — confounding, thus, the 
principle with the embodiment, the spirit with the 



180 QUESTIONS ON THE MAETYEDOM OF JESUS. 

letter. They take the embodiment as the essential, 
forget the principle, and bestow at last unlimited rever- 
ence and affection upon the book itself. An intelligent 
Catholic thinks he sees the principle of divine illumina- 
tion coming down from heaven, a blessing which was 
vouchsafed origiually to the wife of Joseph ; yet he 
does not worship the image of Mary as the ultimate of 
a religious obligation. It is only the uneducated Cath- 
olic who does that. Even so the educated Christian is 
not absorbed in his reverence for the hook, for the per- 
ishable pasteboard and the printed letter which killeth ; 
but he sees through and beyond it all, sees a divine 
principle, which is no more dependent upon the book 
for expression than the Virgin Mary's image is neces- 
sary for the existence of the state of virginity which it 
represents. When I meet an intelligent and spiritual 
Christian, Catholic or Protestant, I find a man, a 
brother ; at once ready to clasp hands, and to converse, 
without trembling, concerning the question of the 
Bible. But when I meet a person worshipping the book, 
forgetful of the principle, then do I find one who looks 
upon me and those who think as I do, as hopelessly infi- 
del. He pities me in my scepticism ; and I pity him 
in his. The difference between us is this — he worships 
the book without the spirit ; while I reverence the 
spirit, without the book. We should remember that all 



QUESTIONS ON THE MAETYEDOM OF JESUS. 181 

manifestations of principles are necessarily more or less 
imperfect. It cannot be expected that we should get, 
through all the ages of antiquity, a perfect transcript of 
what Jesus, John, and Paul, thought and accomplished. 
No one can either believe or expect it, who has any re- 
liable knowledge of human actions or human history. 

Are there many persons capable of separating a principle from its 
manifestations ? 

There are very few persons, it seems to me, who have 
the power, the self -subordinating abstractedness, to look 
through forms to principles. Most persons lose all idea 
of principle, when they begin to venerate the manifesta- 
tion. Christians, for example, are sensitive when we 
refer to the man Jesus ; as if the existence of the man 
was necessary to the existence of a Christ-principle ; 
as if Jesus, the blessed brother, was one and the same 
with a saving principle ! We will say that principles 
are eternal, and if eternal, they are universal ; but 
every one knows that Jesus was a man of Nazareth — 
not ubiquitous, in all the worlds like a principle — not 
even in all the lands of this world. lie was a local 
man ; with local characteristics. A principle of truth, 
on the contrary, can be confined to no centre ; to no one 
land or nation ; to no one sea, though it should flow in 
Galilee. It is boundless as infinitude ; without variable- 
ness or turning shadow. A man, on the other hand, 



182 QUESTIONS ON THE MAKTYKDOM OF JESUS. 

has his peculiarities, his idiosyncrasies, which necessa- 
rily become interfused more or less, and confounded 
eventually with the principle which his character and 
acts are said to represent. No enlightened one will 
deny, I think, that Christ was the best representative of 
a Love-principle. 

But is a representative essential to the existence of the principle 
represented ? 

No ; the principle existed before as well as since. 
The " Christ-principle " I call it, simply to be familiar 
and accommodating. Jesus was a local man; the 
" Christ % " that means a principle. Jesus, as you re- 
member, is a Greek word for the Hebrew Joshua / but 
" Christ f " that signifies Saviour, or a physician ; that 
principle which elevates, bathes, beautifies, permeates, 
spiritualizes, the soul of man — bringing it into harmony 
with angel, with seraph, with the heart of All Things. 
The Christ-principle, then, is universal. It shone 
through several natures before Jesus, shone through him 
when he existed, and still shines through every good 
word and work. Jesus was prepared, by organic ar- 
rangements and intuitional characteristics, to shadow 
forth and exhibit the nature of Love. 

Can you impart your impressions concerning Jesus through, lan- 
guage ? 

Nothing exalts the mind quicker than a perception of 



QUESTIONS ON THE MAETYEDOM OF JESUS. 183 

its own possibilities, even though foreshadowed by the 
existence of some other mind. Let us, then, contem- 
plate Jesus as a man. His general organization was in- 
deed remarkable, inasmuch as he possessed combined the 
perfection of physical beauty, mental powers, and re- 
fined accomplishments. He was generally beloved during 
his youth, for his great powers of discernment, his thirst 
after knowledge, and his disposition to inquire into the 
causes of mental phenomena, of the conditions of soci- 
etj T , and of the visible manifestations of Nature. He 
was also much beloved for his pure natural sympathy 
for all who were suffering afflictions either of a physical 
or mental character. His benevolence of love toward, 
all without distinction: his constant yearning for the 
companionship of those who were considered good and 
righteous; his marked respect and affections for those 
who were much older than himself ; his constant visits to ■ 
those who required relief from their afflictions ; and his 
kind words of consolation to those who were depressed 
either by disease or unhappy social circumstances — all 
contributed to render him an object of general love and 
attachment. These were the peculiarities which distin- 
guished him from all other persons then living.* 
How, then, do you behold Jesus on the scene of history ? 

I behold Jesus as a great and good Reformer ; as con- 

* See Nature's Divine Revelations, p. 5G1. 



184 QUESTIONS ON THE MARTYRDOM OF JESUS. 

nected with no marvellous or mysterious aristocracy, but 
as being born of lowly parents, and fostered in the bosom 
of their domestic habitation ; as possessing intelligence 
to a surpassing degree ; as manifesting unbounded love, 
benevolence, and sympathy ; as healing the sick, restor- 
ing the blind, curing the lame, and visiting the discon- 
solate in their afflictions ; as preaching love, morality, 
peace on earth and good- will to men ; as instructing the 
multitudes in the paths of pleasantness and peace ; and 
as loving all and disliking none. I behold him as being 
condemned, nailed to the cross, and dying a martyr to 
the cause of love, wisdom, and virtue.! * Such is one 
of the parts in the great monument which an ignorant 
and misdirected world have erected to their own shame 
and folly ! 

Do our modem Churches worship the manifestation of a principle 
and not the principle itself ? 

There are cultivated members, I know, who consider 
that the spirit giveth life, that the letter killeth ; but 
they are too quickly counted. With these minds I have 
no difference on this question. But those who absorb 
the symbol and lose themselves in the letter, in the man- 
ifestation — forgetting the principle which giveth life 
and light to the symbol, letter, or manifestation — such, 
create a difference which will continue through all this 

* See Nat. Div. Rev. and the second vol. of Great Harmonia. 



QUESTIONS ON THE MARTYRDOM OF JESUS. 185 

world. Such worship the Virgin and forget the princi- 
ple she represents ; worship the Bible and forget its 
value as a history. There is a principle of wisdom in 
man, which, when cultivated separate from books and 
arbitrary standards, would be a sufficient source of sal- 
vation. It is not necessary to read the Bible, nor to 
worship it, or to know where it was printed, in order to 
be saved. Salvation consists in part of self -regeneration 
— in absorbing into one's nature, and exhibiting from it 
" The Christ-Prirtciple," the principle of Love — shore- 
less, boundless, having neither depths nor heights, yet 
always within the sensibilities and comprehension of a 
true human spirit. 

What is the most reliable definition of popular Christianity ? 

It should be borne in mind that Christianity, as under- 
stood by the Church, is a system of symbolisms, of ordi- 
nances, of subjection to higher authority. Frequently 
it hath been said, u Christianity has not been lived out " 
— that all we want is an opportunity, by social organiza- 
tion and other instrumentalities, to live out the great 
ideas taught by Jesus. The doctrines taught by the 
Church in reference to him, have been lived out. Men 
are living, so to speak, upon the husks of the fossilifer- 
ous past ; yet many believe that the Church is giving 
them water, food, and raiment. Men engage themselves 
with the forms and symbols of religion, and force them- 



186 QUESTIONS ON THE MARTYRDOM OF JESUS. 

se'ves into subjection to the supposed holy ordinances of 
the past, seek to be in harmony with the churches, and 
lose thereby the Christ-principle which Jesus tried to 
exhibit, namely : the spirit of love — universal and un- 
extiuguishable philanthropy. That, I repeat, is the 
Christ principle.* But Jesus was a man of Nazareth. 
Some good did come out of Nazareth ; yea, out of the 
man who was born there. But who will worship the 
local man % In the record of him — there are manifesta- 
tions of a heavenly principle. When*ve behold a dem- 
onstration of the principle of Love, then do we per- 
ceive that which partakes of the Divine, — an exhibition 
of the principle of intelligent forgiveness — and we 
should bow before it, worshipping it as quick and pro- 
foundly in our next neighbor as in the record of the man 
of Nazareth. In proportion as men become absorbed in 
the symbol or the letter, they become materialistic, and 
forget or fail to recognise the spiritual side of the prin- 
ciple. It has been reported recently of a little street- 
girl in New York, that, on being unexpectedly benefited 
by a woman to her unknown, she asked " if she [the 
good woman] was not God's wife ! " This was a mani- 
festation of " Christ" to the little girl. 

Can any man believe and be saved through the "Christ," and yet 
separate his thoughts from Jesus ? 

Yes; every man can and should do so. Jesus taught 
* See a work by the Author, entitled, " The Approaching Crisis." 



QUESTIONS ON THE MARTYRDOM OF JESUS. 187 

the principle of love. His words and works give out 
the light and beauty which his soul had received upon 
that principle. Men both see and feel this principle, in 
all its heavenly bearings, when in their highest states. 
This is the principle by which men shall be saved from 
hatreds, imperfections, perversions, and inversions, 
throughout the world. The way to be saved, then, is to 
act wisely upon " The Christ-principle " — not to be a 
follower of Jesus. The paramount question is not what 
he did, nor what he thought. He had to live, do, and 
die, for himself. He may have had affections, peculiar 
to his nature, which you can never realize. In the 
midst of all, however, he manifested a loving forgive- 
ness, a womanly gentleness, a hospitality of soul, which, 
whenever demonstrated by any human being, is the 
most beautiful indication of the presence of God. 

What do you see in Christianity so very objectionable ? 

Every calm reader will see at once that I object, first, 
to the materialism of the Churches ; and, second, to the 
worship of the Booh as an authority above man's pure 
Reason. I am an entire believer in the principle, which 
lies in the foundation of Christianity, not the follower 
of any one man who is claimed as the immediate incar- 
nation and expounder of it. I have reverence sufficient 
to worship that principle of wisdom and happiness 
which cometh directly and at all times from the Infinite 



188 QUESTIONS ON THE MARTYRDOM OF JESUS. 

God. "When I behold this principle nestling in all hu- 
man hearts, waiting an opportunity for expression, then 
do I see evidence that the Christ-principle is universal ; 
that it can be appropriated by all nature, and exhibited 
just so far as our social circumstances and organic dis- 
positions will permit and suggest. Therefore, I cannot 
blame the man who fails to exhibit Christ ; because, if 
I seek, I find so very much in or about him which will 
explain adequately the absence of such manifestation. 

Where did the doctrine of denunciation, of blame and praise, origi- 
nate ? 

The scolding propensity is of heathen origin — is of 
ignorance born. The forgiving principle is Christian. 
Men admire Jesus when he acted upon the Love-prin- 
ciple. They admire him yet more, when, nailed to the 
cross and interiorly expanded in this principle, he 
prayed — " Father, forgive mine enemies — these Jews — 
they know not what they do." Men reverence that 
exhibition ; and many worship the man. I wonder not 
that almost every artist, with power to bring his 
thoughts out upon canvas, goes to work to exhibit that 
sublime spectacle. But when men read how Jesus went 
to lash the money-changers, a shudder comes over them ; 
and he does not now stand within the circle of their rev- 
erence. Here comes his peculiar individual character; 
with no exhibition of a Christ-principle. The love- 



QUESTIONS ON THE MAETYEDOM OF JESUS. 189 

principle, no person, except him, had the organic power 
or social ability to express. When he takes upon him- 
self the Mosaic Characteristic, to whip and scold men. 
into the traces of belief and duty, he seems to be no 
longer the inspired son of God. He seems now as one 
among other men, excited as others are by opposition. 
Tou intellectually see, then, that it is the Christ-prin- 
ciple which is adequate to save us, and not the man 
Jesus of Nazareth. Man may pray to and through the 
Lord Jesus, but unless he put in practice the Christ- 
principle he cannot be saved. 

This word " saved" is a common term in theology, signifying an 
eternal rescue ; what do you mean by this word ? 

By the word " saved," I do not mean from a place of 
endless suffering, but from immediate discords, imme- 
diate anxieties and troubles in this world, saved from 
discords, and mental anxieties for many indefinite 
periods in the world to come — saved, not from eternal 
perdition, but from derangements of soul and society. 
Put on the Christ-principle, through wisdom — put on 
that which Jesus put on — and then, behold " God mani- 
fest in the flesh ! " 

What relation is theologically assumed to subsist between the early 
Jews and the scheme of salvation ? 

It is assumed in theology that the Jews were the 
chosen and favorite people of God; that he selected 



190 QUESTIONS ON THE MARTYRDOM OF JESUS. 

them, out of all nations of the earth, in order to mani- 
fest his interest; to bring about the workings of the 
scheme of salvation. Every one who has real their 
history knows that the Jews were — morally, intellec- 
tually, socially, physically — no better than wandering 
tribes, and several nations about them. 

What testimony can you adduce to support this assertion ? 

The testimony of Isaiah, in reference to that people, 
is very much in point. He affirms them to be — "A 
sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of 
evil-doers, children that are corrupters." In another 
place he says : " Thy princes are rebellious, and the 
companions of thieves. Every one loveth gifts and 
folio weth after rewards. They judge not the fatherless, 
neither does the cause of the widovv come unto them." 
Such is Isaiah's testimony in reference to that people, 
the ancient Jews : an enslaved race which the Church 
believes to have been especially raised up b} 7 Deity ; 
that he might openly manifest his preference, and pre- 
pare the way for a tragical system of salvation ! He 
has given us yet another testimony concerning them — 
" For every one is a hypocrite and evil-doer ; and every 
mouth speaketh folly." It would be difficult to find in 
any class of people more corruption. Isaiah further 
says — " They have erred ; through wine, through strong 
drink ; they are out of the way. The priest and prophet 



QUESTIONS ON THE MARTYRDOM OF JESUS. 191 

have erred through strong drink. They are swallow- 
ed tip of wine. They err in their vision y they stum- 
ble in their judgment ; all their tables are full of vomit 
andfilthiness, so that there is no place cleanP Such, I 
repeat, is Isaiah's testimony in regard to the people 
which (as the Churches believe) God raised up for his 
special purposes ; a peculiar tribe of semi-religious 
individuals, not so good as many contemporary races. 

Were the Jews more susceptible of spiritual influx than other 
oriental tribes ? 

Whatever may have been the opinions of the early 
Christians (who were mainly converts from the Jews), 
in regard to this nation, I have at present do positive 
perception ; and yet, I get an impression that they were 
more susceptible to spiritual intercourse than many 
about them, except the devoted seers and poets of Asia. 
They had all kinds and degrees of impressions, except 
the impressions of pure wisdom. Every one which 
came bolting into the soul, so to speak, the recipient 
called a "thus saith the Lord;" and if the prophet 
made a mistake, he said — " It is not I but the Lord that 
deceiveth." INo prophet or medium could admit that 
he had made a mistake. It was said — " The Lord said 
unto Moses or Aaron." Intelligent men would say, 
to-day, that some agents or spirits have erred. Men 
can speak now from the era of more light. The Jews 



192 QUESTIONS ON THE MARTYRDOM OF JESUS. 

seemed to be a race of mediums, fortune-tellers, sooth- 
sayers, etc. ; especially certain persons among them, as 
Moses and his most active agents. How strong and 
deep was his impression to leave Egyptian bondage; to 
go forth ; to bring out the people ; to start a new 
system of government ; and to establish, out of the best 
of the old, a new religion. 

Was not this marvellous proceeding- of Moses the execution of a 
providential arrangement ? 

ISTo ; there was nothing supernatural in his proceed- 
ings. Moses was educated at the very centre of educa- 
tion ; at Pharaoh's house ; had the advantage of all the 
lore of Egypt ; was a recipient of the civilization which 
clustered about the discipline of a powerful king. It 
was not wonderful, therefore, that he was intellectually 
enabled and morally qualified to form a system of 
religion called " The Ten Commandments," and a 
theocratic government full of barbarism and tyranny. 
It is not at all wonderful, that, being a medium as hun- 
dreds now are, a voice came to him out of the clouds — 
" Thus saith the Lord ; Go forth, and clo this and that." 
It is precisely in accord with our experience ; only we 
have more than he had ; and with a rational philosophy 
to explain, we say that the Lord is not addressing us ; 
but, on the contrary and more beautiful, that it is some 
friend, some spirit, some angel. Moses, however, gave 



QUESTIONS ON THE MARTYRDOM OF JESUS. 193 

out his impressions as absolute authority / not to be 
questioned. But men have learned better ; progression 
has been made even in Religion. We do not now give 
out such communications as authority ; but as that 
which should be questioned — believing that portions of 
every communication are always good — as aids and step- 
ping-stones to better things. 

But were the Jews not more acceptable to Jesus than other 
people ? 

In the New Testament I find a continuation of 
the same unfortunate testimony concerning the Jews. 
Isaiah's testimony was entirely corroborated and con- 
firmed by Jesus ; in words with which most Bible- 
readers are familiar. They are to be found in Mat- 
thew's report: "Woe unto you scribes, Pharisees, 
hypocrites," — that is, editors, conservatives, all mere 
professionists — " for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven 
against men. Ye neither go in yourselves, neither 
suffer ye them that are entering to go in. Woe unto 
you scribes, Pharisees, hypocrites," — editors, conserva- 
tives, speculatists, professional men — u for ye devour 
widows' houses" — now think of South and Wall streets, 
New York — "and for pretence make long prayers" 
— Trinity church directly in front of Wall street — 
" therefore ye shall receive the greater condemnation." 
The word " condemnation " is very positive and appro- 



194 QUESTIONS ON THE MARTYRDOM OF JESUS. 

priate here ; but would not be proper out of this connec- 
tion ; it would elsewhere sound like an oath ; but here it 
looks like a cannon-ball loaded with earnest and de- 
served rebuke. This bombardment of the Jewish 
character is intensely wholesome ! " Woe unto you 
scribes, Pharisees, and hypocrites, for ye compass sea 
and land to make one proselyte" — think of the mis- 
sionary enterprise in South America and elsewhere — 
" and when he is made, ye make him tenfold more the 
child of h-11 (prejudice, and superstition) than your- 
selves." igpThe word " Hell " in a correct version (?) 
might be rendered "discord." Again Jesus says: 
" Woe unto you scribes, Pharisees, and hypocrites, for ye 
pay tithes of anise, of cummin, and have omitted the 
weightier matters of the law — judgment, mercy, faith. 
These ought ye to have done and not leave the other 
undone. Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat and 
swallow a camel." That is to say — Woe unto you 
editors, speculatists, conservatives, politicians, hypo- 
crites, capitalists, for ye prepare your ministers for the 
work of being artistically eloquent and entertaining — 
teach them to turn long and beautiful periods — but 
within, ye and they are full of expedients, enslave- 
ments, big salaries, and excesses of living. (This 
reading is in anticipation of the Bible revised and im- 
proved.) Thou blind Pharisee, ye who know nothing m 



QUESTIONS ON THE MARTYRDOM OF JESUS. 195 

of spiritual worlds, cleanse first that which is in thy 
cup and platter, so that the outside of them may be also 
clean ; woe unto you scribes, Pharisees, and hypocrites, 
for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which a/ppear 
beautiful, but are in reality full of dead men's bones — 
fossils of ancient myths and decayed theologies. 

To whom did Jesus apply the language quoted from Matthew's 
report ? 

This is the description which Jesus of Nazareth trans- 
mits to this day, of the people against whom Isaiah also 
testified ; and yet, the Jews are believed in all Christen- 
dom to have been the chosen people of God ! He de- 
lineates and denounces them as scribes, Pharisees, and 
hypocrites, full of all uncleanness, of discord, of selfish- 
ness, of ambiguities, and inversions of character. It is 
not only believed by Christendom that the Jews were 
the "chosen people of God," but this belief is essen- 
tially important to the Christian system ; because, Jesus 
himself gave his whole work to that people. This sec- 
tarian attachment shows the idiosyncrasy and ante- 
natal tendencies of the man. lie was not universal, 
like a principle ; neither was he cosmopolitan. Jesus 
implies that his mission was local; he did not deny 
being a king of the Jews ; his doctrine was not to the 
Samaritans, nor to the Gentiles, but to the Jews par- 
ticularly. He preached to them, and did many works 



196 QUESTIONS ON THE MARTYRDOM OF JESUS. 

for them; gave them laws, and a blessed new com- 
mandment ; considered that he was in a line of suc- 
cessive supernaturalisms, beginning with Adam and 
passing through Moses ; that he was legitimately in the 
line descending from the house of David ; the rightful 
heir to the throne of Judea; and lastly, according to 
the plan, was destroyed by the very people whom he 
came to save and exalt. Every impartial reader — 
every reader of the opinions he entertained — will 
acknowledge that he was not a world-wide and cos- 
mopolitan reformer. 

Suppose we admit your ideas on this subject, what is the most 
needful want of the mind ? 

The mind needs to grasp the idea of a universal 
principle. The expansion of a local person into a prin- 
ciple is impossible. Xo one can be a follower of Jesus, 
and, at the same time, be a world-wide reformer. Jesus 
made — as every other individual must — comparisons and 
distinctions. lie saw on one side a Gentile world ; on 
the other, a world of Jews. He acted as a Messiah to 
that people. He was psychologized, in part, by the cor- 
responding conviction of those who surrounded him. To 
them he had to teach ; to deliver the word of salvation. 
He believed in the existence of human sheep and goats; 
of persons good in heart, and in hearts of evil. His was 
not a universal system of perfect reform : yet his every 
word looked eventually that way. 



QUESTIONS ON THE MARTYKDOM OE JESUS. 197 

What is the central doctrine of popular Christianity ? 

The doctrine taught to the world is, subjection to 
higher authority. This is Christianity, as understood 
at the present time. It is the doctrine of submission. 
Obey your existing rulers; be the friends of popular 
law and order; servants, obey your masters. Those 
who say Christianity has not been lived, out, in this 
sense, have not yet ascertained the history of that sys- 
tem which they profess to believe. It can be shown 
that Christianity — as a system of subjection to higher 
authority — has been practically tried and lived out. 
Christianity is fixed in human history. Therefore it 
cannot be said that this century is living under it truly. 
Most receivers are living upon the forms and symbols 
and hushs of that which has gone into history. No one 
enlightened mind will live upon the symbols, the letters, 
and authorities of the book. Men have souls of their 
own ; they may receive illuminations of the present and 
the future. 

Are there many persons prepared for your impressions regarding 
Christianity ? 

There are not many persons prepared to hear, in the 
midst of all their conscious imperfections, that they 
have lived out the doctrines of Christianity ; even when 
taken in the sense of subjection to external authority. 
But it has been lived out in the Catholic Church. The 



198 QUESTIONS ON THE MARTYRDOM OF JESUS. 

Catholic Church was the first well-authenticated system ; 
of the slavish subjection of the lower to the higher. It 
requires the obedience of the body of the Church to its 
heads or potentates ; and lastly, the obedience of the po- 
tentates to the special commands of Joshua. Paul, the 
best Jewish expounder of the Christian system — much 
better than any popular commentator — teaches, that the 
husband should be subjected to the Church ; that the 
wife should obey the husband. As the Church should 
be subject to Christ ; even so should woman be subject 
to her husband. Agree quickly with thine adversary, 
lest he cast thee into prison. Subjection is Christianity, 
in its primitive sense ; and, in this sense, Christianity 
has been lived out. It has done, in this respect, all it 
can do. George Fox's school have carried out the doc- 
trine of obedience of the lower to the higher ; of the 
body to the soul ; and the soul to the still more inward 
spirit. The Quakers have advocated and practised the 
idea of non-resistance. They would be overcome by 
evil rather than use carnal instruments in opposition to 
it. The Quaker system, in one sense, is the best expo- 
sition of Christianity. It is an illustration that sub- 
jection is a Christian doctrine. They endure all man- 
ner of unrighteousness rather than resist with the same 
weapons. They will not do evil that good may come. 



QUESTIONS ON THE MARTYRDOM OF JESUS. 199 

What are the general facts regarding subjection in Christian 
countries ? 

Through all Christian countries there are multitudes 

of people subjected to authority. There are those, here, 

who think that the book is the word of God ; a final 

authority, in faith and practice. You may speak of the 

doctrine of " good-will to men " to the end of days, but 

you will not satisfy the Church. The Church says, " Tell 

me that the Bible is the word of G-od, and I will call 

you a Christian." But this would not be in accordance 

with the law of progress. 

Does any one believe that the Book is essential to Salvation ? 

Yes ; there are many externalists and authoritarians 
who think so, and yet such know there was no Bible for 
Matthew. Paul had to write his own letters — his own 
bible — from his own inspirations. He wrote to the 
Thessalonians, to the Galatians, to the Romans ; and 
why cannot you also write ? — " write " in your lives, in 
your deeds, of friendship, and affection ? What more 
beautiful letters than such ? Write out of the bible of 
your own soul, where liveth forever the Christ-princi- 
ple ! Come to this spiritual platform, and see how the 
subjection of the lower to the higher, of the weak to 
the strong — which is in the main a Christian doctrine — 
will be supported by natural and healthy influxes, ema- 
nating from the Love or Christ-principle, saving you 



200 QUESTIONS ON THE MARTYRDOM OF JESUS. 

from hatred and malice and revenge. "Worship that 
principle ; not a man. Defend not the book, but the 
doctrine of love to man and love to God : this is the 
sum and substance of all Religion. 

Suppose we should resolve from this hour to set ourselves against 
authority, and live the true life, what regard shall we bestow upon 
the New Testament writers ? 

It matters not what Matthew, Mark, John, or Jesus 
said, thought, or did. The question is, do you, in your 
life and soul, advocate the principle of Universal Love. 
The whole question turns upon this point — whether you 
will worship Principles instead of persons — whether 
you will take the spirit in preference to the letter — 
whether you will take the idea rather than the symbol. 
When you read the book properly it ceases to be an au- 
thority. The good principles of the book should be re- 
garded as aids, as helps, as stepping-stones, to higher 
and better revelations. 

By what authority can the Bible be decided as the word of God ? 

No person, as i said, is capable of pronouncing the 
Bible the word of God, unless he is sufficiently inspired 
by a higher revelation. If any man pronounces it to 
be the word of God, without such higher revelation, his 
say-so is worth as much as a similar affirmation by the 
worshipper of Juggernaut. He affirms, not by intelli- 
gence, but by the faith ; inherited from his forefathers, 



QUESTIONS ON THE MARTYRDOM OF JESUS. 201 

endorsed by antiquity. Our worship of the past is in 
proportion to our ignorance of it. More reverence 
for principles will lessen confidence in personal em- 
bodiments. 

But is there not something natural in the association of a person 
with a principle he may have represented ? 

Yes ; he who loves the Christ-principle will also love 
persons in proportion as they manifest it. Jesus was, 
to a beautiful, extent, the " Son of God." Why \ Be- 
cause he made the best practical exposition of the Prin- 
ciple. If, however, we should learn that the doctrine 
of subjection (which he taught) can be improved by a 
principle of wisdom — which will bring order and form 
in society — then we would say, that, although he ad- 
vanced the temple'which was based upon the proceed- 
ings of Moses, yet future generations must put on the 
turret and build the dome. This spiritual temple was 
begun in Egypt ; the building continued through all 
the prophets and seers of intermediate ages ; but — 
how many spacious chambers and galleries of immortal 
beauty were added by the Man of Nazareth ! 

Do you mean to teach that spirits are helping man to build this 
temple ? 

Yes ; it is yet going through the process of erection ; 
every man here, and every angel yonder, is a builder. 
When men come into the higher rooms, then they draw 



202 QUESTIONS ON THE MAETYEDOM OF JESUS. 

close to the region where communications are both easy 
and natural. Spiritual men are no longer believers. 
By actual experience, spirits communicate with the 
sons of men. Every one, disposed to be in harmony 
with these principles, is a builder of the temple of pro- 
gressive redemption. We have but little to do with the 
past ; only so far as it sheddeth instruction. The past 
is fixed eternally ; no man can alter it. No praying, no 
preaching, no spiritual device, can possibly erase an 
action or efface the history of an institution. The great 
point is, to live from this hour in reference to the sym- 
metrical erection of the Spiritual Temple. Men will be 
beautiful and happy in proportion as they regulate their 
existence by the Twelve Commandments. 



QUESTIONS ON THE MYTHS OF MODERN THEOLOGY. 



My thoughts were meditating upon the unutterable 
splendor and unchangeable order of the Universe. I 
was thinking how ten thousand times ten thousand orbs 
were shining in the still depths of immensity — each in 
its own beautiful sphere — each performing its duties in 
the great fraternity of worlds — each full of eternal, in- 
herent, immutable essences, and replete with properties 
and principles which, while they secure obedience, also 
themselves obey ; and then I contemplated the Heart of 
hearts, the Divine Cause, the Fountain Source of all 
these ponderous, manifold, and beautiful existences ; 
how the Eternal Cause " acts to one end, but acts by 
various Laws " — unchangeable ; the same yesterday, to- 
day, and forever — a Being who lives and acts as far 
from the finite as 1 live and act from the Infinite ; con- 
stitutionally and essentially without variableness, neither 
shadow of turning — perfect, without any of the weak- 
ness common to human nature, and not to be compared 
with man in any particular ; impartial, an eternal efful- 
gent Sun shining upon the just and unjust, without 



204 QUESTIONS ON MYTHS OF MODERN THEOLOGY. 

preferences ; altogether lovely and attractive ; whose 
thoughts are not as our thoughts, and whose ways are 
not as our ways ; the altogether Good, the altogether 
Great, the Everlasting, the Infinite. 

Do the world's theological teachings ever come before you, when 
thus meditating ? 

Yes ; my meditations were as the foregoing, when my 
eye caught the following passage on a page of the New 
ITorh Observer (for July 28, 1853), which painfully 
contrasted with my blissful thoughts : 

"The Patience of God. — There is no subject more 
wondrous than this, ' the patience of God.' Think of 
the lapse of ages during which that patience has lasted 
— six thousand years! Think of the multitudes who 
have been the subjects of it. Millions on millions, in 
successive climes and centuries! Think of the sins 
which have all that time been trying and wearying that 
patience — their number, their heinousness, their aggra- 
vation ! The world's history is a consecutive history of 
iniquity, a lengthened provocation of the Almighty's 
forbearance ! " 

Will mankind ever discard such mythology as this paragraph pre- 
sents ? 

Certainly ; behold what a soul-degrading conception 
of our Father-God! The good man and the great- 
minded can revere only a Being whose character is fixed 



QUESTIONS ON MYTHS OF MODERN THEOLOGY. 205 

in all the perfections of the celestial life, affectionate 
and beautiful always ; no changeableness — beyond the 
capability of alteration or extinction — a Source of Love 
and Wisdom perpetual. 

The New York Observer is unceasing in its efforts to 
spread old notions among the people. " The patience 
of God ! " It sounds like a voice from the tombs of 
oriental mythology. The Egyptian gods, many and 
beautiful, had human frailties. Grecian gods would 
occasionally get into a furious passion and " lose all 
patience " with the absurdities of mundane transactions. 
The capricious and nervous gods of the Aztecs, with 
sleepless eyes and fleetest locomotion, would perform 
wondrous things within volcanoes and under burning 
mountains. The Persian angels of depravity w T ere per- 
mitted to frighten people by means of " thunder aud 
lightning," and thus secure their attachment and loyalty 
to Allah and Onnuzd. But to teach, in the middle of 
this century, such weaknesses as characteristic of our 
own ever-just and ever-loving Father-God, is at once an 
insult to the reason and intuition of every living man, 
and a hindrance to the cause of theological discovery 
and improvement. 

Moved, perhaps, by a desire to impart more theologi- 
cal information, the Observer states, in the same irrev- 
erent and blasphemous paragraph, that "of all the 



206 QUESTIONS ON MYTHS OF MODERN THEOLOGY. 

examples of the Almighty Power, there is none more 
wondrous or amazing than God's power over himself" 

Intelligent reader: think of this dispassionately. 
Here, the Observer is commending the Living God as 
an exemplification of self-control / he don't get angry 
in a hurry ; suffers exceedingly with the shortcomings 
of ' pnny man ; is almost aggravated to destructive 
passion with sins of human beings (sins which can only 
injure the sinner), and yet, like a self -regulated philoso- 
pher, the Almighty controls his temper and is yet 
longer gentle with venerable offenders ! 

What a miserable myth is this ! That doctrine which 
is father to it, must be " totally depraved," corrupt in 
its very core. It will do, perhaps, for uncivilized and 
undeveloped minds; but from all such degraded and 
degrading conceptions of the great " I AM," let the 
good spirit of Father-God deliver us ! Theological 
myths are possibly pleasurable to the Observer people 
— that is, if one is to judge a tree by its fruit, or a 
religious publication by the odor and tone of its articles ; 
nevertheless, let us work diligently for the ultimate 
destruction of all such trees, and of all such mythologi- 
cal teachings, and do all we possibly can toward mak- 
ing the wilderness of modern theology to blossom as 
the Eose. 



QUESTIONS ON MYTHS OF MODERN THEOLOGY. 207 

Suppose we conclude to issue a paper precisely unlike the New 
York Observer, how should we announce our intentions ? 

If you desire to issue a Ilarmonial paper, with its 

columns wide open to a candid discussion of the colossal 

ideas of universal Reform, you should unroll your 

banner on the bosom of the free air, with this device : 

"Freedom of Speech, and Liberty of the Press! " 

What does the New York Observer teach in regard to the religious 
education of children ? 

" Children should be early taught," says the Observer, 
" that the Bible is the great authority ; and that when 
it speaks upon any point the question is settled forever. 
They should be taught to go directly to the Scriptures 
to find what is good and what is bad, what is true and 
what is false. Thus, with the blessing of God, they 
will acqtdre the habit of constantly subordinating their 
own notions and inclinations to the plain declarations 
of Scripture. It is a good sign to hear a child often 
use the expression, ' The Bible says so? " * 

The Observer's efforts to manufacture crudities, to 
multiply sectarians, are unmeasured and unceasing. 
Children are urged to regard the Bible as the great 
authority. If the young mind repels the unnatural 
thought, then they should be "early taught" to adopt 
the authority at all events, no matter how severe the 
trial may be. Authority, as already shown, is the laii- 
* See the Observer of July 7th, 1853. 



208 QUESTIONS ON MYTHS OF MODEKN THEOLOGY. 

guage of despotism ; it attempts to form the convictions 
of the mind. Authority has built the gibbet and the 
cross : all that blackens the pages of history, was origi- 
nated by the bigotry, the sectarianism, and the supersti- 
tion, whose only parent was arbitrary authority — 
opinion. And children should be "early taught that 
the Bible is the great authority." 

What shall be done "with a system of religion which promulgates 
doctrines so despotic ? 

What shall be done? The declarations of Science 
must be denounced ; Reason must be silenced ; Experi- 
ence, upon its bended knees, must confess to lies ; Truth 
must conform ; Virtue, be vilified ; Justice, denied ; 
and the whole nature of Man must bow in resistless 
obedience to the dicta of arbitrary authority — yea, all 
this must be done in order to be a consistent receiver 
of theological monstrosities. 

The authority of mere Opinion must be imposed 
upon the plastic mind of youth ; pressed, regardless of 
all healthy resistance, into its very substance ! The 
youth grows to manhood with the shackles upon him. 
His mind is in bondage to authority ; lie cannot think. 
He worships, not the Truth, but the authority ; he is 
therefore a bigot and a slave ! According to the New 
Yorh Observer^ the booh is the final authority. The 
Bible may be (as it is) a combination of good things 



QUESTIONS ON MYTHS OF MODERN THEOLOGY. 209 

and bad things — it may present truth on one side and 
error on the other — but, no matter! its authority must 
never be questioned. Poisonous and unnatural as the 
doctrine of authority is, it is not more pernicious than 
this : " that when it (the Bible) speaks upon any point 
the question is settled for ever P 

Would the Observer have this opinion " early taught " to the young 
mind as religion ? 

Yes ; and yet every enlightened person knows that 
the Bible is wrong in scores of things. Its geology is 
wrong, its chronology is wrong, its astronomy is wrong ; 
it is wrong in many prophecies ; and there are doctrines, 
precepts, and practices, unfit for the child to learn or 
the man to follow. In one place we are informed that 
" God is no respecter of persons," while, in another place 
(Exodus xxxii. 27), we read this most horrible contradic- 
tion : " Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Put every 
man his sword by his side, and go in and out from gate 
to gate throughout the camp, and slay every man his bro- 
ther, and every man his companion, and every man his 
neighbor." In one part of the Bible (Matthew vii. 12), 
we read this most perfect of all laws : " Whatsoever ye 
would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them " 
— but in another place (Dent. xiv. 21) we read this most 
unwholesome of all commandments : " Ye shall not eat 
of anything that dieth of itself ; thou shalt give it unto 



210 QUESTIONS ON MYTHS OF MODERN THEOLOGY. 

the stranger that is in thy gates, that he may eat it, or 
thou may est sell it unto an alien." 

The Observer esteems it a " good sign to hear a child 
often use the expression — The Bible says S6>." How re- 
plete with absurdity is such a thought — that Children, 
without experience and unable to form an intelligent 
idea of any great question, should quote the Bible as the 
totality of truth ! 

Do you mean to teach that men are freely to examine, and sit in 
judgment on the Bible ? 

Certainly ; when the Bible speaks upon any point, 
that 'point should be examined as freely as I now criticise 
the New York Observer. The Bible says a vast num- 
ber of things which are wrong, and unworthy of a place 
in a book which claims to be the Word of God. On its 
pages are to be found good precepts and evil ones ; truth 
and error ; wisdom and ignorance ; and the child that 
" early " learns to receive everything the Bible says, as 
absolute truth, has a painful and difficult lesson to un- 
learn in after years. The Bible itself teaches us to 
" prove all things, and hold fast that which is good." 
A book is certainty included in the category of " things." 
So the Bible testifies against the New York Observer, 
and not less against its own contents. Sectarians are al- 
ready too numerous for the world's good ; and there is 
scarcely a religious journal in existence calculated to 



QUESTIONS ON MYTHS OF MODERN THEOLOGY. 211 

increase the number more rapidly than the Observer ; 
I hope, therefore, that some moral revolution will effec- 
tually reform it. 

Originally, these criticisms appeared in the New York 
Reformer over the author's nom cle plume, " Silo- 
nius." Next, that paper contained a rejoinder, signed 
" Senex " — given below ; as a fair exposition of feelings 
of hostility experienced by those whose honest convic- 
tions are freely declared to be unsound and absurd. 

A WORD TO " SILONIUS " BY " SENEX." 

" To the Editor of the Reformer : 

" ' The Bible says so? Yes ; ' the Bible says so.' 
This was the teaching of our early days, when we lis- 
tened to the solemn admonition of a dearly loved, but 
now sainted mother, in the calm quiet of a New Eng- 
land Sabbath eve. ' The Bible says so ' has been our 
guiding star through many a dark and cheerless night of 
sorrow. ' The Bible says so ' has rung in our ears, when 
with attentive spirit we have listened to its teachings. 
' The fool hath said in his heart, there is no God.' ' Thy 
word is a lamp to my path.' ' Hold thou me up, and I 
shall be safe.' ' God is no respecter of persons, for who- 
soever worketh righteousness shall be accepted of him.' 
' The way of the transgressor is hard.' * Children, obey 
your parents in the Lord, for is this well pleasing in his 
sight.' 



212 QUESTIONS ON MYTHS OF MODERN THEOLOGY. 

" Are the doctrines of the modern school of Pro- 
gressives any more favorable to morals, virtue, or hon- 
esty, than this old-fashioned New England teaching, 
' the Bible says so ' % Are the men and women who 
have fellowship in public assemblies — the Rev. Browns, 
the Abby Kellys, the Bloomers, the She-isms of all 
grades, the He-isms of all stripes — any more industri- 
ous, or intelligent, or useful, than those taught in all the 
strictness of a New England household, with the watch 
and ' the Bible says so ' ? Are the ' higher law ' doc- 
trines of the present day any better than the highest 
doctrine of the New England Church — i the Bible says 
so' ? In a word, does it make a man the worse citizen, 
or a woman the less useful, or a boy the more idle and 
vicious, to have been taught this doctrine — 6 the Bible 
says so ' ? 

" Well will it be for our country when such men as 
' Silonius,' with all the host of Bible-scoffers, Sabbath 
breakers, and law-destroyers, shall find the 6 Harmon ia ' 
they are so anxiously looking for and expecting, and, 
gathered in one grand phalanx, shall confine their teach- 
ings to themselves and the children of their own beget- 
ting, and no influence of the kind now exerted shall 
poison the rational teachings founded upon the Bible 
and its ' says so.' 

" Yours, " Senex." 



QUESTIONS ON MYTHS OF MODERN THEOLOGY. 213 
A EIND WORD TO 

To the Editor of the JVew York Reformer : 

Dear Sir — As Editor, a position both conspicuous 
and exceedingly responsible, you will doubtless be as- 
sailed — more or less each week — with communications 
leading to popular Conservatism, or else to principles of 
Progression. So far as such communications serve the 
ends of human enlightenment and reformation, you 
have resolved, I hope, without fear or favor, to admit 
them. On this impartial principle, you admitted my 
strictures on the New York Observer ; and subsequently 
the brief criticism of " Senex ; " to whom I now have a 
few kinds words to communicate. 

Senex misunderstands me : I do not undertake to de- 
nounce or repudiate the moral teachings of the Chris- 
tian's Bible ; nor would I utter a word to detract a par- 
ticle from the poetry and beauty of those ideas which 
have been, to his mind, " a guiding star through many a 
dark and cheerless night ; " but against the erection of 
the " say so " of any man or Book, as an arbitrary stand- 
ard — superior to the "vital spark of heavenly flame" 
that glows within on the altar of Reason — this, in ac- 
cordance with my living conscience, I will write and 
speak against with all my heart, mind, and strength. 
Senex asks : 



214 QUESTIONS ON MYTHS OF MODEKN THEOLOGY. 

Are the doctrines of the Progressives any more favorable to morals, 
virtue, and honesty, than this old-fashioned New England teaching — 
4 the Bible says so ' ? 

Yes ; dear Senex, a thousand times more favorable ! 
New England theology has tried hard, with its solemn 
teachings and ceremonies, to bring peace on earth and 
good will among men ; but it does not succeed. It 
labors every Sunday ; and thus keeps old ideas and su- 
perannuated theories popular. It is well calculated to 
make bigots of young minds ; and conservatives of 
older ones. Morals, virtue, and honesty, of an ordinary 
kind, are abundant in New England ; the cash-book and 
ledger furnish the code of commercial morals ; but the 
universal principles of reform and Brotherhood — which 
Jesus taught — are well nigh buried ; lost beneath the 
superabundance of forms and rituals. If Jesus had 
confined his intuitions and mental attributes to the " say 
so " of the Pharisees and Sadducees — to the arbitrary 
teachings of the Talmud or revered gospels of ancient 
tribes — do you suppose he would have introduced a 
purer and more spiritual form of religion ? Modern Pro- 
gressives have in him a glorious example of independ- 
ence to follow ; and as to " morals, virtue, and honesty," 
w T hy, good Senex, fear not — " the Lord God omnipotent 
reigneth ; " therefore, all are and must be safe eter- 
nally ! 



QUESTIONS ON MYTHS OF MODERN THEOLOGY. 215 

Do you believe in the perfect independence and individuality of 
the human mind ? 

Yes ; all external and objective authority is prejudi- 
cial to the symmetrical development of our interior na- 
ture. Thousands of persons, like yourself, dear Senex 
have borrowed and begged, and procured a species of 
negative, transient comfort from the " say so "of some re- 
vered authors. But does such consolation " in a dark and 
cheerless night " add anything to your manhood ? Does 
it start you intelligently to action ; for the harmonization 
of your brother man? Suppose you see some new 
scheme for improving the structure and commercial an- 
tagonisms of human society, dare you leave your old- 
fashioned New England " say so," and tread the new 
path? 

" The man is thought a knave or fool, 

Or bigot, plotting crime, 
Who, for the advancement of his kind, 

Is wiser than his time. 
For him the hemlock shall distil : 

For him the axe be bared ; 
For him the gibbet shall be built ; 

For him the stake prepared ; 
Him shall the scorn and wrath of men 

Pursue with deadly aim ; 
And malice, envy, spite, and lies, 

Shall desecrate his name. 
But truth shall conquer at the last — 

For round and round we run, 
And ever the right comes uppermost, 

And ever is justice done." 



216 QUESTIONS ON MYTHS OF MODERN THEOLOGY. 

Senex asks : " Are the 'higher law ' doctrines of the present day 
any better than the highest doctrine of the New England Church ? 

Yes : the higher law of Nature is higher than the 
theology of any church ; than the authority of any 
book. But the higher law of Nature is no higher than 
some of the teachings of Jesus. 

Why do Nature and Jesus agree in this law ? 

Because Jesus found his authority within. He taught 
this principle and that precept upon the authority of 
his spiritually-illuminated intuitions ; never relied upon 
any "say so" or external authority; he appealed to 
Father-God and to Mother-Nature. And I am com- 
pelled to be as true to the light within me ; as free from 
outward standards of judgment. 

Senex speaks of the " host of Bible- scoffers, Sabbath- 
breakers, and law-destroyers " as being worthy only of 
a place by themselves ; and he boldly intimates that 
they should be peremptorily rejected by the world as 
so many enemies to its righteousness ! But, seriously, 
would it not be well for truth's sake to ask to remem- 
ber that these very anathematized individuals are the 
Temperance men, the Anti-Slavery men, the Peace men, 
the Anti-Superstition, the Anti-Bigotry men, of this 
wonderful age ? They head every grand reform. They 
lead in all the soul-developing and nation-revolutioniz- 
ing principles and thoughts of this century. These men 



QUESTIONS ON MYTHS OF MODERN THEOLOGY. 217 

and these women are earnest. They believe in the 
eternal Father-God ; and they work because they believe 
— because they know. They ignore the Church for its 
barrenness and bigotry. These are the spirits who lead 
in the bravest and self-denying enterprises of the day. 
As a public teacher recently declared — " the scepticism 
of these minds is not flippant. It is not a peculiarity 
alone of radicals and fanatics ; many of them are men 
of calm and even balance of mind, and belong to no 
class of ultraists. It is not worldly and selfish. It is 
calm, abiding earnest." 

Strange, is it not, friend Senex, that all the great so- 
cial and spiritual and theological Reforms of this day 
should be commenced and prosecuted by the so-called 
" Infidels " ? It was this magnanimous independence, 
this conscientious breaking away from established forms 
and the " say sos " of prevailing authorities, which origi- 
nally offended the pious Jews when Jesus went forth to 
preach fresher forms of spirituality and reformation. 
This infidelity caused the noble Nazarene to be anathe- 
matized, and then crucified. 

Most people, with a goodly share of intelligence, be- 
lieve a mass of insurmountable inconsistencies, in an 
orthodox creed, which they would reject as error, could 
they be induced to compare them, one with another. 
Fearing lest this comparison will be too long procras- 



218 



QUESTIONS ON MYTHS OF MODERN THEOLOGY. 



tinated, I will myself proceed to give the reader twenty- 
eight affirmations of a bible-believer, and show, by 
means of a parallelism, that fourteen points of faith 
(one half) are exactly antipodistical to the other half, 
but which, by a church-receiver, is imagined to be every 
way compatible and harmonious. 



What is the first affirmation ? 

I believe that God is un- 
changeable ; the same yes- 
terday, to-*day, and for- 
ever ; without variableness 
neither shadow of turning. 

• 
What is the second ? 

I believe that the first 
pair were pure, and with- 
out inclination either to 
good or evil. 

What is the third ? 

I believe that God is su- 
perior to both time and 
space; that he is omnis- 
cient as well as omnipo- 
tent ; that he saw the end 



And its contradiction ? 

I believe that God re- 
pented himself that he had 
made man ; it repented 
him at his heart; and he 
cursed the ground for 
man's sake. 

And its contradiction ? 

I believe that Eve com- 
mitted the first sin through 
an exercise of her own free 
will, or individual sover- 
eignty. 

And its contradiction ? 

I believe that man him- 
self can determine in this 
world, by the life he leads 
and the character he forms, 
whether he will enjoy ever- 



QUESTIONS ON MYTHS OF MODERN THEOLOGY. 



219 



from the beginning ; and 
that he fore-ordains and 
pre-arranges all events in 
the progression of time. 

What is the fourth ? 

I believe in the divine or- 
igin and sanctity and uni- 
versal obligatoriness of that 
commandment — " Thou 
shalt not kill." 



What is the fifth ? 

I believe in the divine 
authenticity and universal 
applicability of that com- 
mandment — " Thou shalt 
not commit adultery." 



What is the sixth ? 

I believe that God is su- 
12 



lasting bliss or suffer eter- 
nal misery. 



And its contradiction ? 

I believe that Moses and 
Joshua received divine 
commissions to hill thou- 
sands of human beings for 
the glory of God and the 
advancement of his right- 
eous kingdom. 

And its contradiction ? 

I believe that Moses and 
Joshua received orders 
from the throne of grace to 
war with the Midianites, 
and, after putting to death 
all the male and female 
parents and male children, 
that he then gave the un- 
married and virgin females 
for the use of the men com- 
posing the army. 

And its contradiction ? 

I believe that God is " a 



220 



QUESTIONS ON MYTHS OF MODERN THEOLOGY. 



perior to all human weak- jealous God " — visiting the 
nesses ; that he is never ar- iniquities of the fathers 
bitrary in his governments, upon the children to the 
providences, or punish- third and fourth genera- 
ments. tions; that he will have 

mercy on whom he will 
have mercy, and whom he 
will he hardeneth. 



What is the seventh ? 

I believe that God is ever 
regardful of the happiness 
and welfare of his crea- 
tures ; and full of compas- 
sion and of great mercy ; 
that his anger endureth but 
for a moment. 



What is the eighth ? 

I believe that God is no 
respecter of persons; that 
his sun shines upon the 
just and the unjust. 



And its contradiction ? 

I believe that God sent 
plagues and suffering 
among the Israelites ; kept 
them wandering to and fro 
in the wilderness for forty 
years; because he was, dur- 
ing all that period, angry 
with that people. 

And its contradiction ? 

I believe that God made 
a special selection of cer- 
tain personages — the pro- 
phets, writers, and apos- 
tles — to act as his attorney 
araoncj the earth's inhabi- 
tants. 



QUESTIONS ON MYTHS OF MODETtN TIIEOLOGY. 221 



What is the ninth ? 

I believe that the Old 
Testament is mainly set 
aside and superseded by the 
New Testament (or dispen- 
sation) which began with 
the life and preaching of 
Jesus; that the latter has 
repealed the laws of Moses 
to some extent, and intro- 
duced better and diviner 
rules of faith and practice. 



And its contradiction ? 

I believe that the Bible 
is harmonious in all its 
parts ; law with law, proph- 
ecy with fulfilment, pre- 
cept with practice, cause 
with effect ; that the rejec- 
tion of one part is tanta- 
mount to a repudiation of 
the whole. 



What is the tenth ? 

I believe that the law of 
" an eye for an eye and a 
tooth for a tooth" can 
never be harmonized with 
" return not evil for evil, but 
overcome evil with good,'' 
because the two laws be- 
long to different eras of the 
divine administration. 



And its contradiction ? 

I believe that the true 
follower of Jesus must " re- 
sist not evil," must love his 
enemies with a brother's 
faithful love ; nevertheless, 
I believe that it is always 
Scriptural to "resist the 
devil " so that he shall flee 
away. 



What is the eleventh ? And its contradiction ? 

I believe in the com- I believe that those who 
mandment which says, did not love the Lord, but 



222 QUESTIONS ON MYTHS OF MODERN THEOLOGY. 

" Bless them that curse 3^011, who cursed and despite- 

do good to them that hate fully used him, or disre- 

you, and pray for them garded his laws, shall, at 

which despitefully use and the close of the judgment 

persecute you; that you day, "go away into ever- 

may be the children of your lasting punishment," be 

Father which is in heaven " cast into outer darkness, 

— for by so doing we but where shall be weeping and 

imitate the great and good gnashing of teeth, for so 

God. does the good God punish 

the wicked and the guilty. 

What is the twelfth ? And its contradiction ? 

I believe that with God I believe that it is impos- 

all things are possible ; sible for God to tell a lie ; 

that he is omnipotent, and or do aught contrary to the 

nothing can stay his hand, perfections of his attributes. 

What is the thirteenth ? And its contradiction ? 

1 believe that God is a I believe that there is a 
spirit — boundless as infini- hell where the spirit of 
tude ; " living through all wickedness, alone in his 
life, extending through all glory, prevails and rules 
extent ; " illimitable, and supreme ; that, therefore, 
everywhere present. there is a portion of infini- 

tude where the spirit of an 
omnipresent God lives not, 
because it cannot enter. 



QUESTIONS ON MYTHS OF MODERN THEOLOGY. 223 
What is the fourteenth ? And its contradiction ? 

I believe that the Lord I believe that the serpent 
God saw everything that he was the most wicked and 
had made, and pronounced mischievous of all the 
it good. beasts of the field which 

the Lord God had made. 

Do you mean to affirm that contradictions and irreconcilable in- 
consistencies, like the above, constitute the popular orthodox creed ? 

Yes ; and several pages might be added of similar 
incongruities and monstrosities ; taught from the fash- 
ionable pulpit ; taught in the most flourishing Sunday- 
schools ; taught as consistent and soul-saving wisdom. 
When such elements of faith enter the human mind, 
there is not much room left to noble thoughts and great 
principles. That clergyman is estimated as most accom- 
plished, and that layman the most successful for the 
American Tract Society, who is so skilful in handling 
Scriptural texts that no contradictions shall come to the 
surface, and be detected by the common, unskilful 
thinker. Overflowing with grammatical verbiage, these 
tract and sermon writers almost always succeed in con- 
cealing the intrinsic absurdities which lurk in their 
orthodox creed. To the ordinary reader of tracts and 
religious periodicals, the opinions of a Doctor of Divinity 
are seldom questioned. And I would respectfully ask 



224 QUESTIONS ON MYTHS OF MODERN THEOLOGY. 

What absurdity have the so-styled wise men of the Church not 
sanctioned ? 

. Not to mention the multitudinous instances of opposi- 
tion to the several civilizing sciences, of which they are 
guilty, we will present no stronger proof of their pro- 
pensity toward absurdities than that they, as a body, 
indorse the above peculiarities of an orthodox creed. 

When will mankind learn to explain and be enabled to practise the 
Philosophy of Truth ? 

The time hath already come to the individual who, 
without boastf ulness, permits his intellectual faculties 
to perform their office. To him the laws of the Universe 
are unchangeable ; harmony reigns triumphant every- 
where. Persuaded by the never-changing testimonies 
of Creation that there i& a Great First Cause — a divine 
principle of Love and Wisdom — how can the human 
mind be so sadly blinded and misguided as ever to 
adopt the popular pagan theories of heaven or hell ! 
We make (or have made by the confluence of external 
circumstances for us) our heaven and our hell as we 
journey forward ; they come not as arbitrary rewards 
and punishments, but as inevitable sequences to right 
and wrong doing. Why not, then, be philosophical 
henceforth ; and resolve to act as intuitive Reason alone 
may sanction. 



QUESTIONS ON MYTHS OF MODERN THEOLOGY. 225 

It is stated in "Nature's Divine Revelations " (page 547) that the 
Bible was compiled at the Nicene Council ; does history give us any 
proof of this assertion ? 

Just at this time there is no external question more 
important. And there is, perhaps, nowhere to be found 
a more concise, consecutive, and conclusive answer than 
the following, which I submit to the world with undis- 
guised pleasure and grateful confidence : * 

The proceedings at the Council of Nice are, like all 
events in the ancient history of the Church, veiled in 
obscurity. Indeed, a strong desire seemed to possess 
Eusebius and others who were present, to conceal its 
details from the world, or at least to clothe the whole 
affair with the garb of mystery. Thus Pappus tells us 
that the Bishops, having "promiscuously put all the 
Books that were referred to the Council for determina- 
tion, under the commuinon-table in a church, they be- 
sought the Lord that the inspired writings might get 
upon the table, while the spurious ones remained 
underneath, and that it happened accordingly." 

This recital is quite in accordance with the usual 
practices of the Church Fathers, who are referred to 
w T ith so much reverence by the modern priesthood, but 
who, if we credit the concessions of Dr. Moshcim, were 

* The reader is supposed to infer from the above language, that 
the author's companion, Mary F. Davis, is the writer of this valuable 
answer to the Nicene Council question. 
10* 



226 QUESTIONS ON MYTHS OF MODERN THEOLOGY. 

artful, wrangling, and grossly dishonest men. He de- 
clares, in vol. i. p. 198, that " It was an almost univer- 
sally adopted maxim, that it was an act of virtue to de- 
ceive and lie, when by such means the interests of the 
Church might be promoted." As regards the fifth cen- 
tury, he says : " The simplicity and ignorance of the 
generality in those times furnished the most favorable 
occasion for the exercise of frauds ; and the impudence 
of impostors in contriving false miracles, was artfully 
proportioned to the credulity of the vulgar ; while the 
sagacious and wise, who perceived these cheats, were 
awed into silence by the dangers which threatened their 
lives and fortunes, if they should expose the artifice." 

In a translation of Michaelis, the pious and learned 
Professor of Gottingen, by Bishop Marsh, we find the 
following startling assertion : " It is a certain fact that 
several readings, in our common text, are nothing more 
than alterations made by Origen, whose authority was 
so great in the Christian Church, that emendations 
which he proposed, though, as he himself acknowledged, 
supported by the evidence of no manuscript, were very 
generally received. " Origen was undoubtedly of the 
greatest importance in giving form and permanency to 
the institutions of priestcraft, as he was a man of ex- 
tensive learning, and was very industrious as a writer 
and compiler. He is said to be the first author who ar- 



QUESTIONS ON MYTHS OF MODERN THEOLOGY. 227 

ranged a distinct catalogue of the books of the New 
Testament, which catalogue embraces the same as are 
now admitted into the so-called Sacred Canon, except- 
ing James and Jude, and these he owned in other parts 
of his writings. This compilation, which was made 
about 210 A. C, served doubtless as a precedent in all 
subsequent councils ; and there is every reason to believe 
that, to the ingenious interpolations and omissions of 
this ancient savant, the New Testament owes whatever 
it possesses of grace, harmony, and historical congruity. 
Taylor, however, acquaints us with the fact, that this 
same Origen afterward relapsed into Paganism, and 
publicly denied Christ. 

Bishop Faustus, an eminent Christian writer of the 
fourth century, declares that " It is certain the New 
Testament was not written by Christ himself, nor by 
his apostles, but a long while after them, by some un- 
known persons, who, lest they should not be credited 
when they wrote of affairs they were little acquainted 
with, affixed to their works the names of apostles, or of 
such as were supposed to have been their companions, 
asserting that what they had written themselves was 
written according to those persons to whom they as- 
cribed it." 

Scaliger asserts that " The fathers put into their Scrip- 
tures whatever they thought would serve their purpose ;" 



228 QUESTIONS ON MYTHS OF MODERN THEOLOGY. 

and Mosheim, the great Church historian of modern 
times, tells us, in vol. i. p. 109, that the " opinions, or 
rather the conjectures, of the learned, concerning the 
time when the books' of the New Testament were col- 
lected into one volume, as also the authors of that collec- 
tion, are extremely different. This important question 
is attended with great and almost insuperable difficulties 
to us in these later times." 

In regard to the books of the Old Testament there 
seems to have been equally as much dispute during the 
first few centuries ; and many Chronicles, Psalms, 
Prophecies, etc., were alternately accepted and rejected 
by the different councils, amid fierce and fiery alterca- 
tions. 

But while so much doubt attends our investigations 
in the misty labyrinths of ecclesiasticism, many things 
seem to point out the Nicene Council as the one whose 
decisions were most authoritative respecting "the in- 
spired book." The catalogue of Eusebius, who was the 
most influential and learned among the attendant bish- 
ops, was exactly the same with the modern one ; as was 
also that of Athanasius, who was his contemporary. 
This council is alluded to by both ancient and modern 
Church historians, as " one of the most famous and in- 
teresting events presented to us in ecclesiastical history," 
and a universal regret is expressed that its acts were 



QUESTIONS ON MYTHS OF MODERN THEOLOGY. 220 

not committed to writing with more fidelity. It is a 
well-established fact that it was attended by an indefi- 
nite number of belligerent partisans, whose bitter ani- 
mosity was quelled only by the fiat of Constantine. 
This sanctimonious despot, after presiding over the re- 
fractory Conclave, and controlling its decisions, finally 
asserted that " what was approved by these bishops could 
be nothing less than the determination of God himself ; 
since the Holy Spirit residing in such great and worthy 
souls, unfolded to them the Divine will." (Socrates 
School Eccl. Hist., b. 1, c. 9.) 

Thus we see how flimsy is the foundation on which is 
based the faith of orthodoxy in the plenary inspiration 
of the Bible ; and also, that while there is much in the 
ancient records tending to corroborate the recital, in 
" Nature's Divine Revelations," there is at least no tes- 
timony in all those ecclesiastical writings by which that 
statement can be disproved. 

What does the investigating world need in order to get at a reason- 
ble estimate of the New Testament ? 

In order to disabuse the popular mind of the fancy of 
the infallible inspiration of the four gospels, the world 
needs a work, without diminishing regard for their real 
merits, bringing together all the corresponding passages 
of the four gospels, and pointing out their essential 
agreements and discrepancies in a fair and candid man- 



230 QUESTIONS ON MYTHS OF MODERN THEOLOGY. 

ner. Such a production would go far, among liberal 
and thinking minds at least, toward the final solution 
of the origin of the gospels, as well as determining the 
spirit in which they were written. 

To what conclusion has a certain truth-searcher come ? 

By pushing investigation* seriously in regard to these 
books, he has come to the conclusion that they are all 
didactic romances, designed by good men to inculcate 
moral principles by aid of anecdotes and symbols ; that 
they were written after the second terrible overthrow of 
Jerusalem, a.d. 131, by men who had never seen the 
person of Jesus, whom they described by aid of tradi- 
tionary transmission ; and the object for which they 
were written is the same as the object of modern Sun- 
day-school books, that is, for the moral advancement and 
religious indoctrination of the young catechumens of 
the church ; and that too at a time when (as De Quincey 
shows, in his essay on the Essenes) the Palestine Church 
had become temporarily a Secret Association ; reserving 
one of its cardinal doctrines — The Messiahship of Jesus 
as a secret mysterion — to be revealed only to the initia- 
ted : while the other cardinal doctrine — The speedy com- 
ing of the kingdom — being esteemed of such universal 
import, was taught without reservation to the people. 

* The reader is referred to an extra-valuable inquiry, and as yet 
unpublished work, by Darius Lyman, jr. , of Ohio. 



QUESTIONS ON MYTHS OF MODERN THEOLOGY. 231 

By further investigation, lie has also come to the con- 
clusion, that the gospel attributed to St. Mark, not pre- 
cisely as we now have it, however, was the original 
gospel ; that the gospel according to Luke was a copy 
subsequently taken — an amplification of Mark's ; and 
that the Matthew-gospel was a copy of both Mark's and 
Luke's, with original additions (by the so-called Mat- 
thew) of traditionary and genealogical information. 
John's gospel, on the other hand, as there is much 
evidence to show, was written for the catechumens of 
the Ephesian Church, by a presbyter or living elder of 
that Church, and not by the alleged apostle. This 
Ephesian presbyter — entertaining many of the doctrines 
taught by Plato, and afterward by the Essenes — assumed 
to be an apostle, in order to give a more lively impres- 
sion of the supposed divine character of the Kazarene. 
lie, therefore, justified himself with the invention of 
facts in the history of Jesus, because his sole purpose 
was to glorify him, as the master of men, and the Son 
of God. (This view is in part corroborated by the his- 
torical concessions of Dr. Mosheim.) He did this with 
no evil conscience on his own part, for it was not his 
purpose to impress upon his young pupils so much what 
Jesus did, as what Jesus was — a magnification of the 
individual (so common to all affectionate and poetic 
devotees) above the common attributes and ways of the 



232 QUESTIONS ON MYTHS OF MODERN THEOLOGY. 

earth's inhabitants. In short, the gospels were, as he 
thinks, the Sunday-school books of the early Church ; 
which sported with the facts of Jesus's real life, as our 
modern religious tales, written by conscientious adhe- 
rents of the Christian Church, revel in pictures and 
anecdotes of lives altogether ideal.* 

In "Nature's Divine Revelations" you assert that two tliousand 
and forty -eight bisJwps assembled at the Council of Nice, and that Con- 
stantine expelled seventeen hundred and thirty of these, leaving but 
three hundred and eighteen to compose the Council ; is there any his- 
tory to support this assertion ? 

" In relation to this statement of Mr. Davis," says 
G. Smith, " Professor Mahan, in his late work against 
Spiritualism, on page 22, holds the following language : 
' Two thousand and forty-eight bishops never assembled 
as members of this Council. Nor were seventeen hun- 
dred and thirty, nor any other number, forcibly ex- 
cluded by Constantine. All but three hundred and 
eighteen, which did sit as members of the Council, were 
there as mere spectators, on account of the intense in- 
terest which was universally felt in the question of doc- 
trine to be acted upon, and this is a well-known fact in 
history.' But notwithstanding this dogmatic assump- 

* These suggestive conclusions of Darius Lyman, being the pro- 
duct of a candid investigation, are of the greatest moment to the 
explorer of theological and christological history. I trust the public 
will call for his valuable work ere long. 



QUESTIONS ON MYTHS OF MODERN THEOLOGY. 233 

tion of the Professor, Mr. Davis has asserted nothing 
more than is supported by history. 

"In Dr. Cotton Mather's < Magnalia Christi Ameri- 
cana,' book vii., page 442, is found the following testi- 
mony : i But that my reader may also be prepared for 
the action of the Synod, I would humbly ask him what 
he thinks of the relation given us of the first Nieene 
Synod by Eutychius, an author of the first ages, rec- 
ommended by Seldon and Pocock as one of irreproach- 
able fidelity \ That author, whose history in Arabic, 
never seen, I suppose, by Salmasius or Blondel, is by 
some thought, in this matter, much more probable than 
that of Eusebius and Socrates, does relate unto us that, 
upon the letters of Constantine summoning the Synod, 
there were no less than two thousand and forty-eight 
bishops who came to town ; but that the most of them 
by far were so grossly ignorant and erroneous that, upon 
the recommendation of Alexander, Bishop of Alexan- 
dria, the Emperor singled out but three hundred and 
eighteen, who were all of them Orthodox children of 
peace, and none of those contentious blades that put out 
libels of accusation one against another ; and that by 
the Emperor's happy choosing and weeding of these 
three hundred and eighteen, the Orthodox religion came 
to be established.' " 



234: QUESTIONS ON MYTHS OF MODERN THEOLOGY. 

Suppose Harmonial Philosophers should resolve to call a Convention 
of Creeds, appealing to the clergy of all denominations, do you be- 
lieve that these gentlemen would, regardless of all selfish considera- 
tions and odium theologicwn which might settle upon their reputa- 
tions, elect their best minds, to represent the cardinal points of each 
Church ? 

This question I cannot now answer ; in fact, I should 
not prejudge the motives of these many-coated brothers ; 
yet it is wisdom respectfully to say — Gentlemen ! you 
may object to this public method of discussing these im- 
portant departments of the Christian superstructure. 
Your archseological evidences, your historical deduc- 
tions, your classic renderings of the original gospels, 
will fail, you presume to think, to be duly appreciated 
by those who might call this Convention . And besides, 
you affirm that all honestly sceptical minds cannot but 
be persuaded of the miraculous origin, authority, etc., 
of the Old and New Testaments, by reading Dr. Nel- 
son's, or Paley's, or Watson's replies and evidences. 
Nay, good sirs, these writers met the question on merely 
metaphysical and inferential grounds ; but the nine- 
teenth century has conveyed the subject to a vastly dif- 
ferent position, and the battle has now to be fought on 
scientific and positive principles. And there would, 
doubtless, be a large number at this Convention who 
have neither the leisure nor disposition to read your 
published works, or weigh the evidences which gentle- 
men of your profession are supposed capable, ex officio. 



QUESTIONS ON MYTHS OF MODERN THEOLOGY. 235 

of presenting to inquiring minds. Do you think it right 
to let an opportunity escape you of doing good ! A 
phonographic reporter might be in attendance to record 
your argument or defence, and a volume may soon 
spread the pro and con fairly before the people. The 
pride of Protestantism is the right of private judgment 
on politics and religion ; will you not assist to establish 
still firmer this glorious principle ? 

The question before such a Convention is intrenched 
in scientific dual positive principles, which all writers 
against scepticism have utterly failed to refute. One 
need but read attentively the recent work by Professor 
Hitchcock, on Geology and Scripture, to be convinced of 
this vital fact. Even Hugh Miller (who has made as 
good a plea in behalf of his theological faith as any 
clegyman could) says: "It is always perilous to under- 
estimate the strength of an enemy The evangel- 
istic Churches cannot, in consistency with their charac- 
ter or with a due regard to the interests of their people, 
slight or overlook a form of error at once exceedingly 
plausible and consummately dangerous, and which is 
telling so widely on society, that one can scarcely travel 
by railway or in a steamboat, or encounter a group of 
intelligent mechanics, without finding decided trace of 
its ravages." And elsewhere this orthodox author 
boldly affirms that the " clergy, as a class, suffer them- 



236 QUESTIONS ON MYTHS OF MODERN THEOLOGY.. 

selves to linger far in the rear of an intelligent and ac- 
complished laity — a full age behind the requirements of 
the time. Let them not shut their eyes to the danger 
which is obviously coming." Gentlemen, I have but 
discharged a fragment of justice in presenting this mat- 
ter. It is the nineteenth Century — with its New Truths 
and awakening Eights of Men — that invites you to this 
Convention of Creeds. 



QUESTIONS ON THE EVIDENCES OF IMMORTALITY. 



Tiie fundamental religious elements, immanent in 
man's highest faculties, seem, at first glance, to he incom- 
patible with deliberate investigation. There are few 
minds capable of reasoning while prejudiced. Come 
to that most high and princely of all emotions — the 
religious — and forthwith there departeth deliberation, 
consistency, and vigilance. How few persons there are 
from whom you expect straightforwardness, reasonable- 
ness, charity, temperance in all things. The Modern 
Church exerts a powerful stultifying influence upon 
the human conscience. It has forbidden the conscience 
to reason, to think, to become enlightened. Men may 
be intelligent concerning the' ordinary interests of life ; 
not upon religious questions. No ! Men dare not be- 
come religiously enlightened. Innumerable attempts 
have been made, with more or less success, to shackle 
the human conscience. 

What is the consequence of such mental bondage ? 

The consequence is, that, while men make advance- 



238 QUESTIONS ON THE EVIDENCES OF IMMORTALITY. 

ment in science, commerce, merchandise, in all the re- 
lations pertaining to our common existence, they stand 
still in the far past ; without illumination upon whatso- 
ever is religious and ecclesiastical. And a vast portion 
of the world, therefore, have involuntarily gone into ex- 
treme scepticism on religion. 

How many sources of human knowledge are there ? 

There are four sources of human knowledge : first, 
Intuition ; second, Reflection ; third, Perception ; fourth, 
Testimony. Two are inherent and natural ; two are 
outside and artificial. The reliable sources of knowl- 
edge are, Intuition and Reflection ; the unreliable and 
secondary are, Perception and Testimony. Perhaps, 
these have never been harmoniously consulted. 

Do the Churches refer men to their own inherent sources of 
knowledge ? 

No ; the Churches have not allowed mankind to rely 
upon inward sources of light and illumination. It is 
but recently that a party, relying upon the inward 
bosom of truth, has dared to stand out and criticise past 
religions. But they are quickly counted. All the 
religious world, daring not to reason upon sacred ques- 
tions, rests upon Perception and Testimony. Intuition 
and Reflection are sources of wisdom ; not consulted by 
fearful churchmen. Perception and Testimony are, in 
the main, the foundation of everything which they 



QUESTIONS ON TOE EVIDENCES OF IMMORTALITY. 239 

believe or hope to realize. The religious element over- 
rides all else when it has once fairly trammelled the 
intellect. No other fanaticism is more to be feared. 
Under the afflatus of a religious enthusiasm, man loses 
all idea of self-preservation, disregards family and 
friends, and plunges, like Peter the Hermit, in the cru- 
sade of fanaticism, never so much as reasoning a mo- 
ment upon the possibilities of self-deception. 

Would it not be a beautiful day when men become illuminated in 
the religious faculties, even as they now are in their social and intel- 
lectual departments ? 

Yes ; a beautiful and heavenly day it will be, indeed ! 
when men shall dare universally to exercise Reason 
concerning the great questions of human Life. When 
men shall see that it is a rich privilege and prerogative 
to reason, then will they become, not mere debaters and 
disputants, but true and serious inquirers concerning 
man's perpetual continuation. 

Do you make a difference between reasoning and debating ? 

Yes ; Reasoning is very different from debating. 
Logic is no source of plain truth. There is no surer 
and quicker path to Error than this system of logicali- 
zation. Sophists commence with certain premises and 
jump at conclusions; a species of jugglery, of legerde- 
main. Commence this, my friend, and you are on the 
straight road to self-mistake ; to self-degradation. No 



240 QUESTIONS ON THE EVIDENCES OF IMMORTALITY. 

matter how brilliant your faculties, or how much your 
logical success may go out into the annals of the world, 
you will possess at the end of life a very small residuum 
of satisfaction. How many insincere persons there are 
who bring merely their perceptive faculties to bear upon 
the sublimest questions of human concern ! When the 
question of Deity comes in, such try to comprehend it 
with the front part of their heads — and failing, begin 
to doubt, and eventually to repudiate, the Divine exist- 
ence. Such is not reason ; but logic. He alone is 
altogether reasonable whose soul is harmonized. Mere 
logical exercise is a prostitution of the faculties. Intel- 
lectual perceptions are designed to ascertain the rudi- 
ments of all things, to comprehend phenomena and rela- 
tions. Reason is the flowering out of all the intellectual 
and love principles in man's nature. Reasoning is the 
process / the method, by which the soul gets exercise. 
Reason is the full-blown flower of the spirit ; its frag- 
rance is Love and knowledge. 

Has the race made much progress in acquiring knowledge of 
future existence ? 

No ; men have made but little progress in knowledge 

concerning life and immortality. Look through the 

history of Egypt, through that of Greece and Rome, 

through all Anglo-Saxon annals, up to the present time, 

and you will discover a slow increase in the number of 






QUESTIONS OX THE EVIDENCES OF IMMORTALITY. 241 

evidences. Spiritualism was known to the most ancient 
races ; to the Indians of the East and the West. Whole 
races have rested solely upon external sources of knowl- 
edge concerning immortality. As soon, however, as the 
intellect gains a predominance, and the conscience is 
liberated from the thraldom of prejudice, then the ex- 
ternally-convinced mind begins to reconsider these evi- 
dences. At first he turns out to be an unhappy sceptic ; 
at last he is delighted, because he sees so clearly that 
this life is all / ar.d that the highest wisdom is to make 
the best present use of it. 

Do you meet persons who sincerely doubt immortality ? 

Yes ; there are persons utterly destitute of any intel- 
ligent evidences of immortal existence. I have met 
minds who inherit a repugnance to the idea of an eter- 
nal continuation of their individuality. Others have 
ventured, after breaking loose from the Church, to read 
some merely logical authors. Becoming persuaded of 
the eventual annihilation of man's personality, they 
have spoken this doctrine to the world. And the Chris- 
tian Church is accountable for it all. 

How is the Church accountable for this scepticism ? 

It is accountable, because it has for ages denied to 
Reason the right to investigate and decide upon immor- 
tality. Thousands have become externally-minded, in 

consequence. Such have gone out into the senses, and 
11 



242 QUESTIONS ON THE EVIDENCES OF IMMORTALITY. 

— discovering that animals die and that man is only a 
higher animal — they reject all spiritual stories and 
ghostly anecdotes. These become confirmed, and even 
happy, sceptics ; full of logic, with little reason ; at the 
same time, conscientious and willing to sacrifice them- 
selves for their belief. 

But have we not an abundance of positive external evidences ? 

No ; were you to exercise your intellectual faculties, 
on the question of immortality, and ask : " How much 
positive intellectual evidence have we \ " you would be 
surprised at the small amount. What appears to be posi- 
tive and conclusive, turns out, at last, to be but inferen- 
tial and uncertain. For instance ; it is alleged in gene- 
ral by the Christian world, that nothing is more certain 
than that Jesus brought life to lio;ht : that his existence 
was the first manifestation of a great and beautiful 
principle; that his resurrection was a demonstration 
that all regenerate persons will one day come up out of 
their graves, and bask in the light of an eternal world. 
The Church is certain upon this point. They say with 
Paul, that Jesus was seen after his resurrection, by over 
five hundred persons ; and from the perception and 
testimony of these, it is said, all Christendom should be- 
lieve in life and immortality. 

Well, what effect does this evidence exert upon the thinker ? 

I will explain : The sceptic, who perhaps is learned 






QTTESTIONS ON THE EVIDENCES OF IMMORTALITY. 243 

in logic, comes to the analysis of this evidence. lie 
finds that twelve of the fourteen have not testified at all 
to the facts asserted ; and that, although the testimony 
of fi.vc hundred persons would, in a court of justice, 
balance off a vast amount of prejudice and scepticism, 
yet such testimony does not appear. It was never 
put into the Bible. Men have the assertion of Paul 
only ; not the testimony of five hundred. It appears to 
the sceptic, therefore, that here is an extraordinary 
illustration of immortality with less than ordinary evi- 
dence. Believers are now driven upon inferential 
grounds. The Church goes searching for what are call- 
ed " natural evidences " to corroborate the affirmations 
of revealed religion. Historical religion, however, brings 
out several points of evidence. One is, that almost all 
seers, prophets, and apostles have testified to the doc- 
trine of immortality ; another is, that this doctrine has 
been believed by all nations. Here let us ask : 

Would God have planted in the human soul such a belief unless 
there was something- answering- to it ? 

Now, sceptics inquire as to the universality of vast 

superstitions and great errors. Unfortunately, for the 

Churches, the errors and superstitions are found to run 

parallel with the conviction of immortality; therefore, 

the so-called positive evidences of immortal life, drawn 

from historical religion, departs out of intellectual society. 



244 QUESTION'S ON THE EVIDENCES OF IMMORTALITY. 

"Now cometh the question suggested by natural relig- 
ion, as to the adequacy of the supply for all man's 
needs. Is there not a law of this sort in nature ? Man's 
soul asks for personal immortality ; therefore, he will 
have it; this is the natural inference. Then arises the 
question : 

How do you know but your want is educational, instead of natu- 
ral ? 

To this question the Church is mute. It has not a 
word of explanation — only says : " You are an infidel, 
and captious : unable to be fair and Christian." All 
that such men need is : the substantial and ample testi- 
mony that this great and desirable doctrine is not a su- 
perstition. The sceptic asks : u How shall men know 
when their wants are natural and when artificial — when 
acquired, and when innate i " Who knows but this de- 
sire for immortality has been implanted by judaistical 
Christians, who received it from sects still more re- 
mote ? This doctrine extends back through the Persian 
into the Egyptian races ; and still further even to their 
primitive ancestors, as is demonstrated by the pyramids. 
But there are superstitions carved as plainly as this doc- 
trine of immortality. 

Would Father-God have implanted Hope in man, unless there was 
something answering to the faculty ? 

Man, I reply, cannot be a complete contradiction. 



QUESTIONS ON THE EVIDENCES OF IMMORTALITY. 245 

The sceptic, however, will ask : "Is a belief in immor- 
tality a result of the organ, or is the organ a result of 
the belief % Phrenology discovered that the faculty of 
Hope, like every other organ, is capable of cultivation : 
that, although innate, it is under the jurisdiction of 
its possessor. On a low scale, this faculty never hopes 
for immortality ; but contents itself with hoping for a 
good day, for a to-morrow, for success in business, for 
happiness through life. Sometimes it inspires great 
heroes and small politicians. 

" Hope springs eternal in the human breast, 
Man never is but always to be blest." 

Ilope is considered by the church as the voice of Natu- 
ral Religion, inducing man to think himself a being of 
the future ; that his success, or his failure, is a result of 
his present efforts. The sceptic, however, finding that 
Hope, in its ordinary normal operations, suggests only 
happiness and success this side of the grave, concludes 
that it does not prove immortality. There is, he boldly 
affirms, no positive evidence on the question. Now, 
churches cite the testimony of certain ancient seers and 
itinerant prophets ; rejecting, of course, all seers and 
prophets whose history does not come through canoni- 
cal channels. Bat when a careful analysis is made of 
this branch of evidence, the sceptic pronounces it inad- 
equate and extremely inconclusive. Sceptical persons 



246 QUESTIONS ON THE EVIDENCES OF IMMORTALITY. 

look into the character of the old seers and wandering 
prophets, and wherever there is a spot upon it, they will 
hold it forth to a world's consideration. The church, 
unable to give back a frank and lucid reply, confirms 
the sceptic yet more in his scepticism. 

Shall we not consider the facts of clairvoyance as good evidence ? 

It was but a few years ago when clairvoyance was 
presented to the American public. It was long ago 
known in France, in Germany ; in certain localities in 
England. In this country it was heard of as a faculty ; 
but, after all, how few experience it ! Most people know 
of it only through the outward sources of perception 
and testimony. They receive the testimony of those 
who have interested themselves in the phenomena. And 
the conclusion is, that clairvoyance — not being a univer- 
sal human experience — is at best but an inferential evi- 
dence of immortality. 

Have we not positive evidences in the spiritual manifestations ? 

Yes ; one would say that there has been a concert of 
action between mediums and their spirit friends; to 
bring out the clearest and most unequivocal proofs that 
man's soul is not extinguished by the catastrophe of 
death. Spiritual manifestations, however, are very far 
from being universal; they are local and special and 
mostly private. Sceptics say: " There are too many 
things undignified, not addressing man's highest nature, 



QUESTIONS ON THE EVIDENCES OF IMMORTALITY. 247 

and injuring proof which otherwise would be clear and 
indubitable." He who has never seen our Table of 
Explanations* stands off and makes this report; then 
this report, invalidating our evidence, gets into influen- 
tial papers, and becomes the prevailing conviction of 
America. Although manifestations are now very gen- 
eral, compared with their limitations of six years ago, 
yet the mass is not convinced that immortality is not a 
mere enthusiastic poem, a religious dream ! The 
Church, when required to give answer to a candid man, 
finds itself compelled to be mute, or else to use the old 
vituperations. Should spiritualism become popular, 
these same churchmen will ask the material forces of 
Nature to furnish an explanation. But spiritual men 
aiid women (of the New Dispensation) have received 
positive evidences. Without qualification they can 
affirm, that immortality is approved ; that the received 
evidences are sufficient to settle this question. These 
evidences, unfortunately, are not universal ; not accessi- 
ble at every table; spirits cannot act upon every 
human soul equally; this gives sea-room for immense 
Doubts of many tons burden. Spiritualists have yet 
to make some discoveries, I think, which will address 
this class of sceptical persons. Teachers of the New 

* Sec a work by the author entitled, " The present Age and Inner 
Life." 



248 QUESTIONS ON THE EVIDENCES OF IMMORTALITY. 

Dispensation are asked by sceptics to bring forward 
some positive demonstrations; as lucid to the intellec- 
tual faculties as any sum done by rules mathematical. 
(I have responded to this call in a course of lectures, 
lately delivered, which will probably make the fifth 
volume of the Great Ilarmonia.) 

What have you seen and developed on this question of immortality ? 

By intuition and reflection, I have seen that man's 
immortality, to be of any practical service to him* must 
he felt in his religious nature, and not merely tender- 
stood by his intellectual faculties. I have seen it to be 
possible for every man and woman, after coming under 
spirit culture, to feel through all their being this sub- 
lime truth : that the perfected human soul can never be 
extinguished ! Evidences which are worth anything, are 
not outside — are not in the table-manifestations ; not in 
spiritual stories and ghostly anecdotes. True evidences 
come through the two sources, Intuition and Reflection 
— through the inward sources of Wisdom. Each 
human head hath its own evidence, Intuition brings 
man this treasure in advance. Each human being 
holds a note on the Bank of Eternal Life. Individual 
existence is the indorsement ; the soul contains the 
positive proof. The treasures of the future world are 
lodged in us 1 If sceptical men could but take leisure 
out of business relations — if they dared to be candid 



QUESTIONS OX THE EVIDENCES OF IMMORTALITY. 249 

and truthful to the inward sources of knowledge — they 
would begin to feel positive evidences of immortality. 
Spiritual manifestations will yet become a hundredfold 
more desirable ; they will not be sought as evidences of 
immortality, but as illustrations only. Let it be known, 
positively, that a man contains in himself the power of 
eternal continuation, and he will look naturally for 
some correspondence with the other world. lie is not 
surprised when he gets such communication ; nor is he 
disappointed or sceptical if he should not get it. A 
person who relies upon the external sources of knowl- 
edge, insensible to the inward fountains, is sure to be 
swept away when the sensuous evidences disappear. 
Such must have the testimony now, and under the best 
circumstances, else they are distressed with irresistible 
scepticism. 

Does not every externally-minded person suffer somewhat 'from 
the absence of intuitive knowledge ? 

Externalists realize a mischievous and lurking suspi- 
cion, that all these so-called positive evidences of future 
existence may be explained eventually by some ordinary 
principle. Paul was mostly in this condition. Every 
one acquainted with Paul as a writer, can see, neverthe- 
less, that he was a man truly religious. lie undertook 
to be philosophical upon the question of immortality, 

but his enthusiasm for the life of Jesus, his indulgence 
11* 



250 QUESTIONS ON THE EVIDENCES OF IMMORTALITY. 

for this branch of the religious sentiment, caused him 
to affirm that man's resurrection from the dead was 
dependent upon the resurrection of that one individual. 
Man's individuality was not determined, in Paul's 
opinion, by any organic qualification — he did not argue 
that man contained the immortal treasure naturally — 
but he supposed man to be immortal in consequence of 
a miracle : namely, that Jesus was in reality raised 
bodily subsequent to passing through the mysterious 
process of dying. 

This extraordinary manifestation was a matter of testimony. Did 
Paul ever seem to cherish doubts on such evidence of immortality ? 

Paul was frequently very sensitive on the nature of 
this evidence. He would say : " If Christ has not risen, 
then of all men we are most miserable." Often have 
men read the fifteenth chapter of Corinthians, so full of 
beautiful analogies — so full of agricultural arguments 
and figurative illustrations, but, at the same time, so 
utterly destitute of confidence in man's constitutional 
immortality. " Now, if Christ be preached that lie rose 
from the dead, how say some among you that there is 
no resurrection of the dead?" Here he predicates 
man's resurrection entirely upon the traditionary mirac- 
ulous resurrection of Jesus. " If there is no resurrection 
of the dead, then is Christ not risen." Then he turns 
this rule, makes it to work the other way, and says : " If 






QUESTIONS ON THE EVIDENCES OF IMMORTALITY. 251 

Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and 
your faith is also vain. Yea, and' we are found false 
witnesses of God, because we have testified of God that 
he raised Christ / whom he raised not up, if so be that 
the dead rise not. For if the dead rise not, then is not 
Christ raised : and if Christ be not raised, your faith is 
vain ; ye are yet in your sins. Then they also which 
are fallen asleep in Christ are perished. If in this life 
only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most 
miserable." 

What does Paul mean to teach by this language ? 

Paid means to teach that if men consider the life of 
Jesus valuable as an example only, then the whole gos- 
pel is worth next to nothing. The great matter in view 
is the establishment of man's individual immortality. 
Although not a philosopher, Paul undertook, as well as 
his arduous nature would permit, to reason upon the 
miraculous foundation of his beautiful religion. Paul 
afterward says : " How can a thing be quickened ex- 
cept it die?" His philosophy of immortality was that 
men must first die in order to be raised through the 
miracle ; that we are sown in corruption and raised 
incorruptible; sown a natural body and raised a spir- 
itual body ; that we are sown into the grave first, and 
then, when the harvest-time comes, the spirits who have 
died down are all raised up. Afterward, however, 



252 QUESTIONS ON THE EVIDENCES OF IMMORTALITY. 

Paul did not think so ; lie taught that death was not 
necessary. Let ns read him farther : " We which are 
alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not 
prevent them which are asleep ; for the Lord himself 
shall descend from heaven with a shout, and the dead 
in Christ shall rise first, then we which are alive and 
remain shall he caught tip together with them in the 
clouds, to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall be ever 
with the Lord." 

Do you mean to affirm that Paul contradicted his own theory of 
man's resurrection ? 

Yes : let me prove it. The leading doctrine taught 
by the apostle was that it is first necessary for every 
man to be sown — to die and be buried — in order to be 
reaped or raised as Christ was; he taught that Jesus 
was crucified, placed in the grave as one being dead, 
and rose again in best status, to show mankind the 
dying process which is indispensably necessary for all 
to pass through, in order to secure a resurrection. Yet 
he elsewhere concluded, that "we who are alive," with- 
out passing through the dying and burying process 
which before he described as essential, will be " caught 
up," and live right on just as well. 

Does Paul ever appeal to what you term the internal sources of 
knowledge ? 

Paul relied for the most part upon miracles, external 



QUESTIONS ON THE EVIDENCES OF IMMORTALITY. 253 

perception, and traditionary testimony. lie was ex- 
tremely anxious to have it established that Christ after 
his death was seen by reliable witnesses. This was 
necessary first to every man's belief; an idea which 
Paul would not have valued had he felt the principle. 
Jesus was seen by two on the road to Emmaus; then, 
by twelve; then, by five hundred at once; lastly, spir- 
itually, by Paul himself. The apostle thought that all 
the evidence a man had of life hereafter was embodied 
in an incomprehensible miracle: the physical resurrec- 
tion of Christ from the state of the dead. The sceptic, 
in view of such reasoning, says : " This is an extraordi- 
nary demonstration with less than ordinary evidence 
to indorse it." 

How can I believe in immortality upon the testimony of a person 
whom I have never seen ? 

This question represents the position of the sceptic. 
How obviously necessary, therefore, that spiritualists, 
while interested in the excitement of the manifestations, 
should not fail to seek internal evidences of immor- 
tality. Axiomatic spiritual principles will save sceptics, 
when the manifestations shall have ceased. No reason- 
able mind, one who comprehendeth the spiritual law, 
will believe that these phenomena will continue without 
variableness. The manifestations, as to their variety, 
will gradually retire from the world. Behold ! the seed 



254 QUESTIONS ON THE EVIDENCES OF IMMORTALITY. 

is being sown. Already it is time to prepare to reap 
the harvest of evidences. Let them be garnered into 
form, and stored into the beautiful temple of spirituality. 



Do you mean that spiritual manifestations will become less 
general ? 

Yes ; this is my irresistible impression. Men must 
mate an intelligent use of these manifestations; else 
they will go down into history as the tricks of itinerant 
boys and girls. Look within, my friend, for that prin- 
ciple which causes all effects in the- external. "When 
you find an internal conviction that you are immortal, 
which no sophistry can invalidate or disturb, then you 
have found a treasure / the beauty of which is greatly 
enhanced by spiritual manifestations. Secure this in- 
ternal conviction, first ; then, add the illustrations. In 
a few brief years more — when clairvoyant, healing, im- 
pressional, and writing mediums only will be known — 
men will have reaped a harvest of evidence. - The tes- 
timonials of hundreds of thousands could then be 
secured. Persons, considered sceptics, will read with 
earnestness. The Churches will become gradually pow- 
erless. Sceptical minds will get their questions an- 
swered outside of the Churches. Then the Churches 
will come to you ! Be careful, my friend, lest you for- 
get and go to the Churches; do not be absorbed by 
them. There is danger in becoming too popular ! Be- 



QUESTIONS ON THE EVIDENCES OF IMMORTALITY. 255 

ware, when the Churches begin to consider it profitable 
to invite you to take a seat in their beautiful compart- 
ments. Accept this, and you are on the road to annihi- 
lation. Yea, when the Churches consider spiritualism 
reputable enough to indorse yon, then consider that you 
are all on the broad road to certain mischievous pro- 
sperity ; an easy thriftiness which will turn into conserv- 
atism, like all the past, and build up institutions against 
another dispensation. 

Is the spiritual world as solid and as natural as this world ? 

Yes ; I would like to show you how natural and 
familiar are spiritual things. The other world is as 
natural, astronomically considered, as the globe which 
we now inhabit. The spirit-land hath laws, days, 
nights, stars, suns, firmaments. In that world is treas- 
ured up, not the artificial facts of earthly society, but 
all the elementary facts of mankind. Commence with 
the most common stones at your feet ; watch them ; see 
them ascend through all the gradations of refinement ; till 
they become a physical part of the vast second sphere ! 
The finest particles of all things, not absorbed by this 
world, go to form a spiritual globe ! Like a zone, on the 
inside of the vast milky-way, is unfolded the second 
sphere. 

Could you indicate the existence of this spirit-world by any laws 
visible to man's intelligence ? 

Yes ; the existence of a spiritual world is as demon- 



25'6 QUESTIONS ON THE EVIDENCES OF IMMOETALITY. 

strable as any proposition in astronomical science. All 
it requires is, an intellectual inductive ascension, step by 
step, through the material evidences that lead to it. 
Mind can be intellectually led to see that there is a 
spiritual world just as readily as it can be taught to 
perceive that the earth revolves ; a fact of which men 
have no ocular demonstration. There are certain facts 
in nature, as tides, as days and nights, as eclipses of the 
sun and moon, which require explanation. The astron- 
omer explains all these phenomena by the laws of plan-' 
etary revolution. And you believe. Why ? Because 
you see that his explanation covers all the facts ade- 
quately. So, too, there are facts in human experience 
which cannot be solved upon any other hypothesis save 
that which admits the existence of spiritual globes. 
The phenomena of human consciousness, the spiritual 
experiences of all races, can be explained, I repeat, only 
by a set of principles which, if legitimately followed 
out, will lead inferentially, analogically, and positively, 
to the existence of spiritualized worlds. I am per- 
suaded that six nights of continued investigation would 
make the existence of a spiritual world more valuable 
and familiar than the golden lands of California. 

Does a belief in this philosophy give happiness to the mind ? 
Yes ; your ordinary affairs, crowned by this philoso- 
phy, would go on with the greatest possible harmony ; 



QUESTIONS ON THE EVIDENCES OF IMMORTALITY. 257 

it becomes, more and more, a strengthening power to 
the human soul. To allude to my own experience, I 
would say : It has been a source of inexpressible pleas- 
ure (for many years) to live conscientiously in reference 
to spiritual intercourse. Yet, it is not easily acquired. 
I have devoted myself to it, studiously and industriously, 
as an artist to music ; as a mechanic to the principles of 
his occupation. To succeed in anything, a person must 
be devoted. Such has been my effort, and devotion, 
and success. Some of my private personal experiences 
I tremblingly lay upon the altar, that you may see how 
substantial and replete with consolation are the positive 
evidences which I have received of the existence of a 
spiritual world. 

It is more than two years ago that Catherine De 
Wolf, my former companion, went to the Spirit Home. 
On the morning of the evening of her departure, her 
father, her mother, her sister, and her nephew — persons 
who had been in the second Sphere several years — to- 
gether came near to my house in Hartford. I have be- 
come accustomed to the personal presence and spiritual 
influence of persons ; more particularly to the sphere of 
a spiritualized individual. Thus, I felt their spheres 
near the house. I went down to the front door, opened 
it, and invited them up to my studio. As soon as they 
had entered, I closed the studio door, and composed 



258 QUESTIONS ON THE EVIDENCES OF IMMORTALITY. 

myself for the interior. In the course of ten minutes I 
was lost to all externals ; was not aware of possessing a 
physical nature, nor of being in a room ; in fact, I was 
myself a spirit. Still remaining in my body, yet being 
a spirit, I could see them and hear their words. 

Her father said to me : " We have come for our 
daughter. We think she is going to-night ; and we 
have a special request to make of you that, inasmuch as 
she lias been sick for many months, and thereby fatigued 
in spirit as well as in body, she be left alone with us, in 
the spiritual world, for three months ; that you do not 
even desire to see her during that time." When I 
asked why I should not desire, he said : " Your desire 
might reach and rouse her from a required rest ; and 
she be unable to recover as fast as we wish." There- 
fore, I promised that I would not even desire to see her 
in three months. Her spirit relatives said that they 
would remain in the vicinity till she (in spirit) was ready 
to depart. 

During that day there were some favorable symp- 
toms ; indicating that she might take nourishment and 
continue a few days longer. But other evidences, to- 
ward evening, made it certain that she could not longer 
remain. About twenty minutes past seven, that even- 
ing, she ceased to breathe. Not being in the interior 
at the time, I did not witness the departure of her spirit. 



QUESTIONS ON THE EVIDENCES OF IMMORTALITY. 259 

In fact, under the circumstances, I had no opportunity 
for interior exercises. 

Three months passed, and I heard nothing directly 
from her ; nor indirectly, except from two mediums 
who supposed they had received telegraphic dispatches. 
I had no confidence, however, in anything which I did 
not receive myself. In the winter I went to the city of 
Boston, to give a course of lectures. At six o'clock in 
the evening of my first lecture, I felt her spiritual ap- 
proach ; and that she was somewhere within a hundred 
miles of that city. My lecture was duly delivered, and I 
returned to my boarding-house immediately. On going 
upstairs, I felt she was near. I admitted her by the 
door, passed up the hall, and went into the superior 
state. She was now by my side, just like any person 
in the body. She seemed to have regained about ten 
years of youth ; and in appearance she was not so large 
as in her physical body. She looked as if she was en- 
joying her existence ; although she was not as enthusi- 
astic as her nature inclined to generally. We conversed 
pleasantly ; face to face. She used her new organs of 
speech, and gave me portions of her recent experience. 
She did not know when she would visit me a^ain. I 
asked her if she came from the spirit world alone ; to 
which she replied, that " she had some one near (the 



260 QUESTIONS ON THE EVIDENCES OF IMMORTALITY. 

house) who would accompany her." The interview now 
ended. 

Next, I went to Auburn, to deliver lectures. While 
there, I felt her approach as before. As before, I ad- 
mitted her into my room, and we had another conver- 
sation. 

When I received her third visit, 1 was in the city of 
Hartford, some five months afterward. On that occa- 
sion she seemed to have lost about twenty-five years of 
age ! She was very brilliant, and filled with emotion. 
She said that she had " seen so many oeautiful things, 
and enjoyed so much ! " She wished to tell me some- 
thing about a " Sunset " she had witnessed in the Spirit 
Home. She promised, at my request, to be deliberate 
in her recital, so that I might take it down in writing. 
While she was standing, with her arm on my shoulder, 
I wrote the communication which follows: I place it 
before the reader solely to give him an impression, that 
no world is more natural than the Second Sphere of 
human existence. 

A SUNSET IN THE SPIRIT HOME. 

There are times, my beloved, when I long to speak 
of my new home. 

On the bosom of affection's memory, I voyage back 
to the happy days when we together trod the earth. 



QUESTIONS ON THE EVIDENCES OF IMMORTALITY. 261 

Once, I feared for us both . . now, for both I love 
and fear not. 

Day before yesterday, our family journeyed along the 
banks of the " Mornia " . . a lake flowing westward. 

Accompanied by the dearest ones we know, we as- 
cended the great Mount . . south of the lake . . called 
" Starnos," being somewhat fashioned after a solar 
body. 

And I yearned for thee, beloved . . yet, my spirit 
was full of love . . breathed from those around me. 

I find in the air of my new home . . the house of the 
spirits of men . . a something blander, and more pleas- 
ant, than in any other atmosphere I ever breathed. . . . 
There is a joy in it to me. . . . But there are many 
here who seem not to remark this. . . . And then, our 
sunsets here ! 

Oh ! I would gaze with you, dear brother, on such a 
sky as glorified this rose-covered spot day before yester- 
day! 

We visited the summit of Starnos to witness this ex- 
hibition. ... It is likely to occur here once in every 
eight of your weeks. . . I mean the setting of the sun 
on this side of the Spirit Home. 

I would bring thee a full description. . . . But I 
have no words, beloved ! 

I have looked to see if that was the evening you 



262 QUESTIONS ON THE EVIDENCES OF IMMORTALITY. 

wrote respecting your visit at High-Rock Tower . . it 
was ! * 

Should an artist paint the scene that sunlight gave 
us, it would be said that he had exaggerated the picture. 
. . . But there is no pencil for such delineation. . . . 
Art has no lines for such coloring. . . . Language no 
powers to reveal . . or, if there be words, I feel too 
much to think them out. 

"We had been walking around the Lake. . . . The 
valley was half-viewless and misty with the plenitude 
of countless odors And the sea of hills sur- 
rounding Starnos was half hid by the rainbow-streams 
of Beauty that were showered down from the sky ! 

At length, we attained the top of this glorious emi- 
nence. . . . "We gazed, with unutterable joy, upon the 
ever-brighteniug and kindling firmament. 

With us, in company, were many you never knew . . 
some well know and love you . . others you have seen 
in the earthly home. 

My brothers were with us . . and One, whom I will 
now call my " guardian angel " . . and William's Cor- 
nelia . . also their recently married daughter . . and 
James, too, with a group of his recently-formed acquaint- 



* High-Rock Tower is described in a work by the author, entitled 
" The Present. Asre and Inner Life." 



QUESTIONS ON THE EVIDENCES OF IMMORTALITY. 263 

anees . . and the blessed four you witnessed at Iligh- 
Eock Tower. 

I sought your hand . . I found the memory of your 
spirit near. 

1 breathed . . and the breath I drew was of Life 
eternal. 

And there was no void of existence. . . . Although 
you did not hold my hand nor administer unto me, yet 
the fulness of my happiness was all permanent . . all 
heavenly. 

And that sky above us It was even more 

beautiful in the east than in the west. . . . Such a mass 
of burnished gold. . . . Yet, not all gold . . for here 
and there a silver edge unrolled . . disclosing the azure 
sky. 

I would that you had seen it, my brother. ... I 

cannot tell thee of the scene I can now close my 

eyes . . and, looking in memory, can see it all again. 

There was a glorious cloud . . all clouds are glorious, 
my brother . . which reflected a far-spreading light 
upon the sea of hills and the lake below. . . . And 
Mornia, in consequence, looked like a miniature ocean of 
liquid gold. . . . The cloud assumed a ruby hue. . . . 
And, then, the fair-flowing Mornia looked like a sea of 
blood. . . . The light thrown upon the opposite shore . 
was like a sunny gauze cast over the landscape's emer- 



264 QUESTIONS ON THE EVIDENCES OF IMMORTALITY. 

aid green. . . . And the remote habitations of the 
" Brotherhood of Morlassia " . . the groves of medita- 
tion . . appeared as a great City illuminated. . . . And 
the environing fields, receiving the crimsoned light, 
looked like a World on Fire. 

We gazed . . and gazed . . and, the sun went down. 
. . . The lights opposite were put out. . . . And the 
fair-flowing Mornia darkened. . . . And the cloud was 
first a silver gray . . then dark. . . . 'Twas night in 
the Spirit Home ! 

This is the first time my eyes . . divested of all 
mortal corruption . . ever gazed upon the sunset. 

And I feel that I can no more forget it than I could 
the event of my new birth here. 

Of this, beloved brother, I will hereafter speak. 

Our party now descended the rose-covered Mount. . . 
wending our way amid green-hilled groves . . sere- 
naded by the birds of the twilight hour. . . . And, as 
we stepped from spot to spot, / thought of the glories 
you had taught me to see with my understanding. . . . 
Seeing the Father as I now do, I must worship Him in 
Love. ... In spirit and in truth I must worship Ilirn ! 

Beloved brother, how magnificent is the Temple in 

WHICH WE DWELL AND WORSHIP ! 

HOW DO SPIRITS WALK! ON THE INVISIBLE AIR? 

To A. J. Davis : — Very dear Sir : It is not saying 



QUESTIONS ON THE EVIDENCES OF IMMORTALITY. 265 

too much to state that I have derived more pleasure in 
reading your works than all other religious authors, 
ancient and modern. This is because I have thought 
that you furnished more philosophical evidence of the 
soul's immortality than all other writers, " inspired " or 
profane. But, my dear sir, if there are some things 
which do not admit of an easy explanation, you will not 
think me unreasonable in demanding one of you. In 
your " Philosophy of Spiritual Intercourse," p. 100, you 
give an interesting account of a " congregation of 
friendly spirits who from a distance of eighty miles 
directed a mighty column of vital electricity and mag- 
netism, which current, penetrating all intermediate 
substances, passed through the roof and walls of the 
apartment where we were seated, and there, by a 
process of infiltration, entered the fine particles of 
matter which composed the table, and raised it several 
successive times three or four feet from the floor." 
Now, sir, this would seem very possible were it not that 
they were above the earth's atmosphere, consequently 
could not partake of its motions, Now, as long as they 
maintained their relative position to your little circle in 
Bridgeport, they had to travel at the rate of something 
over five hundred miles per hour from west to east, to 
correspond with the earth's rotary motion ; then add to 
that the rate of sixty-eight thousand miles per hour in 

12 



266 QUESTIONS ON THE EVIDENCES OF IMMORTALITY. 

the same direction, which would be necessary in order 
to keep up with the earth's annular motion, and the 
spirits must move at the rate of sixty-eight thousand five 
hundred miles per hour ! If I am not right, I am nearly 
so. Now, sir, this seems to me to be an unattainable 
speed, after being told, on page 141, that " the gentleman 
closed the door rather too quickly behind him to admit 
the passage of the spirits of Solon and Pisistratus." 

Again, what seems to make it a thing incredible is, 
you tell us, page 151, that (i a stratum of atmosphere, 
more or less dense, is necessary for the spiritual organ- 
ism to walk or stand upon." Now if an atmosphere is 
so rarifled as to admit the feet of James Victor Wilson 
to within eighteen inches of the floor, and not dense 
enough for the spirits of Solon and Pisistratus to go in 
at the door, while a spirit in the body could go in, how 
could that " large congregation of spirits " maintain 
their distance of eighty miles from the circle in Bridge- 
port for a moment, and that too without the earth's at- 
mosphere to stand or walk upon ? One might suppose 
that they had rather poor foot-hold to run at that rate. 

Sir, these inquiries are prompted by no spirit of cap- 
tiousness ; but rather in the hope that you will give 
them a rational solution. They are made by one who 
hungers for evidence of his immortality — evidence 
which he has never been able to get a morsel of from 



QUESTIONS ON THE EVIDENCES OF IMMORTALITY. 2GT 

the pulpit, and which he hopes to get alone from the 
sensuous manifestations which are claimed to be given 
daily in our country. 

I am, sir, very respectfully, An Anxious Inquirer. 

Wilmlngton, Mass., Oct. 3, 1855. 

THE QUESTION ANSWERED BY A. J. DAVIS. 

To an Anxious Inquirer : Your letter addressed to 
me contains questions of moment, especially so to all 
who seek to establish the immortality of the soul by and 
through scientific facts and philosophical principles. 
The imaginative poet, the cultured sentimentalist, finds 
no difficulty where you do ; yet such persons — although 
perhaps satisfied of the soul's indestructibility and end- 
less growth in love and wisdom — can never remove, 
what thinJcers consider philosophic objections to the 
possibility of man's continued existence in other worlds. 

Your mind seems to be impressed — perhaps I should 
say, oppressed — with two physical conditions which 
militate against my spiritual disclosures — first, " velo- 
city ; " — second, " density." In reply, I am admonished 
to be brief, but my explanation, I trust, will not be ob- 
scure in consequence. 

Electricity of immensity is different from that which 
is so called on this globe. It is the same, essentially 
with ours ; yet, as I have often said, it is different, be- 



268 QUESTIONS ON THE EVIDENCES OF IMMORTALITY. 

cause finer and semi-spiritual. This element thus spirit- 
ualized, is omnipresent. Its operation is everywhere 
the same — unbroken, unshorn, indissoluble. It is a pos- 
itive imponderable reality, which, because of certain 
functions performed by it in the various sections of the 
material creation, I sometimes term, " Magnetism." 
The schools have as yet no reliable intelligence, free 
from conjecture, concerning this beautiful agent of 
boundless influence. Like the Divine Spirit which 
vitalizes it — it is shoreless, trackless, pathless, indepen- 
dent. It never departs from certain principles of uni- 
form action, local and general. 

Please, my esteemed Inquirer, remember the fore- 
going as the fundamentalism — on which, as I think, all 
your inquiries may find an adequate solution. 

You cannot understand how the spirits, over the 
Bridgeport circle, couloir " maintain their relative posi- 
tion " to that circle, unless they moved, in harmony 
with earth's rotary motion, at the frightful rate of sixty- 
eight thousand five hundred miles per hour. I will en- 
deavor to explain : 

Electricity, being an omnipresent principle, is the me- 
dium through which spirits see and act upon physical 
objects. This clement penetrates and permeates every 
physical substance ; so that an object on the side of the 
earth, in it, or on the opposite side, would be as clearly 



QUESTIONS ON THE EVIDENCES OF IMMORTALITY. 269 

seen, and could be as easily acted upon, as if it were on 
that side nearest the spiritual congregation. The con- 
gregated and operating spirits, therefore, have no 
need of changing their position in order to see and act 
upon terrestrial objects. Next, you inquire : 

How can you explain the problem of density ? 

The question of " density " is here easily answered. 
It is only when spirits approach the earth's surface that 
this peculiarity is noticeable — that is, the necessity of 
some eighteen inches of nether air as a floor on which 
to walk or stand sustained. Solon and Pisistratus did 
not enter the door. "Why not ? Because, as I originally 
explained, the haste with which a gentleman closed it, 
rendered their ingression inconvenient, if not naturally 
impossible. 

Do you mean to teach that spirits are unlike earthly beings with 
reference to the laws of gravitation ? 

Xo ; I do not mean to teach such doctrine, but, on the 
contrary, that spirits are regulated by laws which govern 
men. That spirits have as much power as we possess to 
triumph over atmospheric and gravitational conditions 
— to overcome the laws of friction and comparative 
inertia (which is accomplished each step we take on 
the bosom of matter) — must be almost self-evident to 
every careful student of the Ilarmonial Philosophy. 
This philosophy provides for all such considerations, by 



270 QUESTIONS ON THE EVIDENCES OF IMMORTALITY. 

teaching the universality of an element upon which will 
can extensively act with surprising exactitude. By 
reference to the " Vision at High Eock," dear Inquirer, 
you will observe the immense Congress above the earth, 
sustained by atmospheric stratifications — far less dense 
than those near the globe's surface. I questioned the 
possibility at the time, but was referred, as you may 
remember, to the existence of far heavier bodies sus- 
tained by air-floors still more remote. Upon further 
research, I was forced to a conclusion that " the laws of 
gravitation " are not yet comprehended. For example : 
birds, weighing from three to twelve pounds, ascend 
through dense strata of air, and move easily in rarer 
mediums — such as wild ducks, geese, and eagles ; and 
all this is done by will, operating upon voluntary mus- 
cles — for, as evidence, should a bird suddenly close its 
wings mid-air, it wo aid fall to earth like a stone or any 
other involuntary body. 

Now, while it is true that spirits have no wings, yet 
do they conform to certain laws of gravitation (not yet 
understood by mankind), and thereby ascend to any 
height and travel to remotest populated globes. This 
is usually accomplished by conforming to the " rivers " 
of magnetism and electricity which flow, with great 
swiftness, between all inhabited planets and the contig- 
uous margin of the Spirit Land. (See "Present Age 



QUESTIONS ON THE EVIDENCES OF IMMORTALITY. 271 

and Inner Life.") Hoping that you will continue the 
investigation of scientific spiritualism, and be thereby 
advanced to all happiness and important truth, I sub- 
scribe myself, 

Your friend, A. J. Davis. 

Brooklyn, Oct. 13, 1855. 

Can you familiarize the life and society of the Spirit Land yet more 
to the common understanding- ? 

My impression is, notwithstanding the private nature 
of the words imparted, that I cannot familiarize the 
social facts of the Second Sphere to denizens of earth, 
unless I introduce the following narrative, which, with 
much more, was given in a conversation between my 
former companion and myself ; on the night of the 
15th, and the morning of the 16th of August, 1S54. 
Three or four days previous to her visit, I felt, in cer- 
tain unoccupied moments, her approach. During the 
evening I had been walking out on " Lord's hill," in 
the city of Hartford, Conn. As I was returning, she 
joined me about a dozen rods from the residence of 
William Green, jr., whose house was then my home. 
She came home with me — accompanied by her sister, 
three brothers, and her " guardian angel," as she termed 
her most cherished associate. They all came together 
into my room. And, while the party entertained them- 
selves in conversation concerning the diagrams, etc., 



272 QUESTIONS ON THE EVIDENCES OF IMMORTALITY. 

which were hanging on the wall, we (Catherine and I) 
began a familiar conversation which continued for near- 
ly two hours. 

This is the seventh visit to me since her spiritual 
departure. From her first, which occurred in Boston, I 
remarked that she gave me only the fraternal recogni- 
tion. 

To her esteemed friends and acquaintances it may be 
gratifying to know somewhat of her personal appear- 
ance. She now appears to be about fifteen years of age 
— is very enthusiastic and brilliant — and yet, has a 
depth of expression which indicates strength of charac- 
ter as well as intellectual acumen. Usually she stands 
by my side, with her arm resting upon my shoulder ; 
or else, moving her hand lovingly and tenderly over and 
upon my forehead. 

Her dress differs considerably from those with her 
and other female spirits, except her guardian angel's 
dress, which resembled her habiliments closely ; whose 
appearance is also brilliant, and whose expression is 
fraught with much sweetness and energy. Blue, white, 
and a light crimson hue, entered into the colors of her 
simple garb, which, like the finest gossamer fabric, 
crossed over _her neck, the same on her back as on her 
breast, confined at the waist with a silver-white girdle, 
and falling thence gracefully down over the hips, and 



QUESTIONS ON THE EVIDENCES OF IMMORTALITY. 273 

terminating within two inches of the bend of the knee. 
Her arms were proportionally covered with the same 
garment. This dress was, as I observed, only one piece.* 
Above any earthly fashion, it is best adapted to please 
the most cultivated taste, and display the grace and 
beauty of the female form. Although this beautiful 
habiliment concealed her person in particular, yet the 
general outline of her symmetrical form was visible — ■ 
resembling a soft snowy shadow — through a fine web 
of lio;ht. 

I have written out the result of our conversation, 
nearly verbatim, from my immediate recollection : 

" My Guide ! my Protector ! my all of life on earth ! I 
did not speak yesterday to thee . . nor last night as I 
longed to do . . but nearly all my thoughts were of 
thee. 

" Thou hast led me to the mountain where I behold 
my joys . . from whose blessed height my spirit looks 
forth on the world where once I strayed . . and, in the 
fulness of my present happiness, my heart's tongue 
speaks recall to the sad wanderers there My 

* The purest spirits are not clad in artificial dress. The spiritual 
garments are not manufactured in the Second Sphere, but, as I have 
observed many times, are "imported," so to speak, from factories on 
neighboring' physical planets. The same is true of certain birds which 
animate the Spirit-Land. 
12* 



274 QUESTIONS ON THE EVIDENCES OF IMMORTALITY. 

grateful soul addresses them . . I can tell of happiness 
. . I am happy now . . Oh, so happy ! . . . Who again 
can find such joy as I have found? . . . Can any other 
soul he wedded to its guardian angel ? . . . Yes, this 
may he ! . . . God's Kingdom comes. . . . And, it 
seems to my joyous soul that mine is the happiest . . yes, 
the happiest . . for who can feel so happy as I? . . 
"Who can be so blest ? . . . Who can love like me ? . . . 
And, where is another so worthy to be loved . . another 
such guardian angel? " 

Then I asked her this question : " Katie, while with 
me, you frequently said you could not live without me — 
why can you now feel so happy away from me ? " 

" Brother beloved ! " she replied, " I will tell you all. 
.... Many days after my arrival at my father's Pavil- 
ion . . situated on a beautiful eminence from whose 
summit we can see the Seven Lakes of Cylosimar . . I 
could see no beauty, feel no life, believe in no immor- 
tality, without the personal presence and constant com- 
panionship of my only earthly guide. . . . ' Without 
him,' I said, £ I can see no Father . . realize no Heaven 
. . without him, I cannot be comforted.' . . . Even in 
my dear mother's smile . . in the holy loving touch of 
my beloved father . . in the soothing music of my 
dear sister's love . . from Marcus's gleeful words . . 



■ 



QUESTIONS ON THE EVIDENCES OF EMMORTAEITY. 275 

could gather no relief . . I would have only thee. . . . 
Bat, unexpectedly, one day I was quieted by the sound 
of a voice, so like thine, that I started . . all trembling, 
all tearful, and overjoyed . . to meet thee so soon in my 
father's Pavilion. ... I looked in every direction . . 
I saw no one near. . . . Presently, I saw . . just by 
the door, and standing close to Cornelia's* side . . one so 
like thee that I flew into his open soul /■....' Are you 
my Jackson's brother ? ' I asked. . . . With deep sweet- 
ness, and a look of love, he replied . . i You shall know 
me soon.' 

" But I could not wait . . no, not a moment . . sus- 
pense is such torture .... And yet, how easily I did 
compose myself at his request. 

" He departed from my sight. . . . But I felt, how 
beautiful is Love .... My spirit sought him as if 
'twere thee .... I felt he could tell me of thee . . 
even, if he were not in realit}^ thy prototype . . thy real 
brother and counter-image. 

" But of this all, my own friends would reveal nothing 
. . to my questionings, replying only that in future I 
should see him more." 

Here I interposed this question : " Katie, did this 
occur before your first visit to me in Boston ? " 

* " Cornelia" I understood to mean the ascended wife of William 
Green, jr. 



276 QUESTIONS ON THE EVIDENCES OF IMMORTALITY. 

" Yes, dearest brother," she replied, " I had not seen 
thee . . neither did I know, how to find thee. . . . 
Every day I would impatiently ask for thee, or for thy 
brother* whom I had seen. . . . And then I walked 
a little. . . . Environing beauty, of which I was often 
told, was all dead to rne. ... I could only think of 
thee. . . . Through the love of thy soul only I could 
gaze upon the spirit home. . . . Without a consciousness 
of your presence, I could see no charm in existence . . 
no loveliness or grandeur in all that lay spread out before 
my father's Pavilion. . . . Oh, I so longed for thee. . . . 
Most passionately my soul did yearn for thee . . or, for 
the one I had so fondly embraced . . because I felt 
that he alone of all others in my father's house could 
see thee and love thee, and appreciate all my love for 
thee, while on the earth. 

" Dearest brother, ' how can I stay from thee ? ' . . 
I would exclaim . . ; How wait thy coming ? . . so long 
a time, perhaps . . How can I wait ? . . Thou art not 
here. . . . 

" But I see thy room, and the sweet couch there ! 
Thy table too, and the dear writing-chair, 
The birds they seem to sing-, and flowers look fair, 
And that which makes it heaven, I see truth there. 

" ' Could I not better bear this separation,' I asked 

* When she spoke thus, I supposed she had seen the only natural 
brother I ever had, whose name was " Sylvanus," 



QUESTIONS ON THE EVIDENCES OF IMMORTALITY. 277 

my father . . ' had I not been personally with Jack- 
son ?'.... I began to doubt the wisdom of it . . so 
intensely did I feel your absence. . . . And yet, I 
would not have been with him . . I was so liajppy for 
it . . it makes me happy now. . . . Memory brings 
thought, and love awakens feelings, which carry me 
back to our first meeting . . and to the cottage parlor, 
too, wherein I was so blest. . . . Each day the same 
fond memories would command my soul's attention . . 
yea, a thousand times. . . . And yet, at times, I was 
confused between thee and thy brother . . I knew not 
which 1 wished most to gaze upon . . for so I loved all 
that was related to and resembled thee. 

"As my strength strengthened . . as my youthf ill- 
ness returned . . I could not realize at times your ab- 
sence . . neither at times that we had ever met. . . . 
My existence with thee began to fade out . . I remem- 
bered only our first acquaintance . . when I dared not 
to think of closer nearness. 

" But I know we have met. . . . Upon me the death- 
less record is made . . all here can read it. . . . My 
soul has expanded . . the mortal vestment confines it 
not . . and, in all I have of heaven, I see thy work 
upon my nature. . . . Yes, my Guide . . my best 
earthly friend . . my only earthly protector. . . . Yes, 
thy lessons are not lost. . . . Thy spirit-sister's being 



278 QUESTIONS ON THE EVIDENCES OF IMMORTALITY. 

has received them all . . all . . and, they shall live in 
her eternal life. ... They shall embellish her exist- 
ence here, while they still prepare her spirit for higher 
homes and purer heavens. . . . Thanks . . thanks . . 
for thy gentle patience. . . . How sweetly thou hast led 
me. . . . My ever-grateful soul remembers all . . all 
. . and, my spirit ceases to be rebellious, when, as now, 
it senses the chastity and liberty of the Father's Love 
and Wisdom ! 

" One morning my dear father came to me, and 
said : ' Daughter, Arise, go out upon the hills with 
us . . for thither goeth thy Guardian Angel.' 

"We prepared . . we went out upon the hills. . . . 
The Seven Lakes of Cylosimar . . disposed at regular 
distances, forming a crescent-shaped curve, amid the 
overfolding margins, and beneath the far-off lofty heav- 
ens . . appeared like the setting of brilliant diamonds. 
. . . In all directions, distributed through the land- 
scape, were many groups of beautiful trees . . so beau- 
tiful, and so green . . uplifting their emerald boughs 
at least a thousand feet above the surface of the Lakes. 
. . . And I flew . . to my Jackson's brother 

" i Are you not my own Jackson's brother ? ' . . I 
asked. . . ' I am his brother ' . . he replied . . ' and, 
together, we will visit him ! ' 

Here I inquired : " Katie, did all this occur before 



QUESTIONS ON THE EVIDENCES OF IMMORTALITY. 279 

your first visit to me ? " (She had been gone from 
earth nearly four months ere I received anything from 
her.) 

" Yes, my own brother . . all this was before I knew 
where you were . . before I knew how I could ever 
find the way to the earth again. . . . He told me in 
beautiful language of your mission . . what he knew 
of your teachings. . . . For all this I loved him very 
tenderly. . . . 'Thou hast loved w T ell ' . . he said to 
me . . ' but I will teach thee wisdom.' . . . ' Thou 
shalt teacli me love.' . . . ' This world is all love. . . . 
Unto it the Father hath his love imparted . . the love 
which knows no recall, no weariness, no change . . 
illimitable . . infinite . . eternal.' . . . lie bade me to 
see in him my Guardian Angel. . . . But already, be- 
fore he granted me this holy blessing, my heart had 
named him thus. . . . Yes, he is my Guardian Angel . . 
and more . . I love him. ... I do not fear to love, with 
all my heart, with all my strength, with all my mind, 
with all my soul. . . . God is no ' Jealous God ' . . as 
error hath taught . . enslaving love. . . . Truth hath 
no chains for the soul . . and, freely loving, I worship 
God. . . . My love I draw from an inexhaustible treas- 
ury . . heaven is our exchequer . . boundless are our 
riches . . unfathomable the deep fount of Love, whence 
flows all our wealth. . . . Infinite the beneficence of 



280 QUESTIONS ON THE EVIDENCES OF IMMORTALITY. 

Him who giveth to us. . . . We will repay him by lov- 
ing one another 1 " 

(Here Katie remarked that she would now retire 
with the party, to return early on the following morn- 
ing. She said she was going to visit the beloved mem- 
bers of her family still on earth, also several of our mu- 
tual acquaintances, but would say more to me ere she 
left for the Spirit Home. Accordingly, on Y/ednesday 
morning, at four o'clock, she awoke me by an influence 
which came through the walls, like a breath. Feeling 
which I arose, dressed myself, went down to the front 
door, and found there the entire party as before. Each 
refused to come in, save Katie — who accompanied me 
up-stairs — and, resting her hand upon my shoulder 
affectionately, she said :) 

" In a few days, my own dear brother . . we all de- 
part for the Northern Section of the Spirit Home." 

Hearing this I inquired : " How far is that Section 
from where your father resides — from his Pavilion ? " 

" Many billions of millions of miles," she replied. 

" Why," I asked, " do you go so far away ? " 

" To see new societies and different scenery," she re- 
turned, " and besides, my father and my Guardian, and 
many others, have something to do thither. . . . We 
go, because lovers are never separated here either by 
space or circumstances." 



QUESTIONS ON THE EVIDENCES OF IMMORTALITY. 281 

" Will you tell me the name of my brother ? " I 
asked. 

" My Guardian Angel is not your physical brother . . 
his name is Cyloneos." * 

" His name is almost like mine," I said. 

" l r es," she replied ; " because you both belong, by 
character, to the same Brotherhood. My name — " she 
continued, speaking of herself — "is Cylonia ; f and 
yours is ' Silonius ' — as you used to write it." 

" Does the soul of Cyloneos fill* yours as fully as 
sometimes you used to say mine did ? " I asked. 

" Without him, my brother, I feel that I could not 
exist — even in the midst of all this Heaven ! lie is to 
me another Jackson. I love him — because I have so 
loved you — because he gives what my soul ceaselessly 
yearns for — I love him, because — I cannot help it ! 
Out of his abundant wisdom, he promised me that your 
mission will go on without me. lie has let me into the 
benefits of my earth-life . . exhibits it all, its lights and 
its shades, its storms and its sunshine . . has made me 
see plainly that 1 came to him from you as a gift. My 
soul senses the truth of all he says, with deepest grati- 
tude. . . . * I not only know,' he tells me, ' the jewel 
* She pronounced it thus : Cy-lone-os — meaning- the Morning's 
Ray. 

f She says her spiritual name " Sy-lo-nia," 1 means the " Morning's 
Bride." 



2S2 QUESTIONS ON THE EVIDENCES OF IMMORTALITY. 

the Father placed on earth for me, but also where and 
how I must wear it.' Oh, I am so happy in the knowl- 
edge of thy power to go on, unmoved and unchanged, 
with thy mission without me. In this thought, too, I 
find rest and heaven. Soul calleth unto soul, and each 
answereth the other. My love uttereth its voice, and 
lifteth up its hands on high, in worshipful gratitude for 
the undivided possession of my Angel's love, which, in 
all the things of my life, is abundant — making more 
and more visible the glory and greatness and goodness 
of our Heavenly Father ! " 

Thus ended our seventh interview. Besides those 
recorded, I asked her a multitude of questions which I 
do not feel free to publish. I asked her — " if I under- 
stood her ?" She observed my thoughts, and replied in 
the affirmative. She could not tell exactly when she, 
with the large party of friends, would return from the 
Northern Section. 

In closing let me remark that, previous to her mar- 
riage with the wise and beautiful " Cyloneos " of the 
Brotherhood.of Morlassia, I had made deep excursions 
into the ve*ry interior territories of conjugal science.* 

* The reader is referred to the fourth volume of the Hanno- 
nia — " The Reformer " — which contains the author's impressions on 
this question. 



QUESTIONS ON THE EVIDENCES OF IMMORTALITY. 283 

From my discoveries in reference to temperamental 
harmonies — that only certain combinations can eter- 
nally cling to each other — I had concluded, although 
the relation subsisting between us was temporarily wise 
and fraternally beneficial, that it could not extend be- 
yond the tomb and be crowned with the Harmonial per- 
petuity. Therefore her narrative, although it had at 
first somewhat of sadness in it, did not surprise me. 
And now, as I remember her withdrawal from earth — 
sustained and enraptured by the strong embrace of her 
real conjugal Companion — my soul can utter but one 
affectionate sentence, a true farewell blessing — " Pro- 
gress, and be happy ! " 

Astounding contrast ! My vision has closed upon the 
spiritual ; the curtain has dropped ; my condition is no 
longer superior. Exhausted by mental activity, and 
feeling the need of air and exercise, I go out through 
the public streets. I meet familiar faces; we smile, 
and quickly separate. My feet tread the brick pave- 
ment with rapid succession. The gate of the North 
Cemetery is open. I walk quietly through its shady 
avenues. The ground is wet from recent rain ; the 
grass glistens in the sun-ray ; the trees drip moisture. 
This silent place is suggestive ; at once of Death and of 
Life. Against the new iron fence I am leaning. Over- 



284 QUESTIONS ON THE EVIDENCES OF IMMORTALITY. 

hanging boughs cast a veil of thin shade upon the Sibe- 
rian Hedge. Beneath this pale shadow the earth is 
gracefully raised. Here are visible a few violets, white 
lilies, and some mignonette. Here, too, stands a pale 
record by one of her cherished relatives — a snow-white 
stone on which are written these mutually significant 
words — " My sister." 

What is the phenomonon of death to the worldly-minded ? 

To the worldly-minded, the fatal certainty of death is 

draped in darkness; to such persons the elements of 

change and alteration pervade all external nature. 

Mutability and waywardness characterize every form 

and substance which man's bodily senses can recognize. 

A birth — a fleeting existence — -a certain decay — each 

following the other in rapid succession. To external 

observation everything is changing constantly — from 

budding infancy to blushing youth — from blossoming 

maturity to decrepit waning and passing away — from a 

state of life to a state of death. A few hours since, the 

east was radiant with the newly-arisen sun ; now, it shines 

m the zenith ; a few more fleeting hours, and the bright 

orb is gone, and nature is dressed in the sad and sable 

habits of night, and darkness drapes the world. 

Such may be death to the ungodly and unsanctified ; but is it not 
a more blessed fact to the Bible-believer ? 

No ; the worldly-minded and the receiver of ancient 



QUESTIONS ON THE EVIDENCES OF IMMORTALITY. 285 

myths are equally terrified by the mystery of death. 
Jeremy Taylor, the eloquent dignitary of the Church, 
says: " Man is a bubble. lie is born in vanity and sin ; 
he comes into the world like morning mushrooms, soon 
thrusting their heads into the air, and conversing with 
their kindred of the same production, and as soon they 
turn into dust and forge tfulness ; some of them without 
any other interests in the affairs of this world, but that 
they made their parents a little glad and very sor- 
rowful." And again, the same ecclesiastical teacher 
and excellent writer says : " So I have seen a rose newly 
springing from the clefts of its hood, and at first it was 
as fair as the morning, and full with the dew of Heaven 
as the lamb's fleece; but when a ruder breath had 
forced open its virgin modesty, and dismantled its too 
youthful and unripe retirements, it began to put on 
darkness, and decline to softness and the symptoms of 
a sickly age ; it bowed its head, and broke its stalk, and 
at night, having lost some of its leaves, and all its 
beauty, it fell into the portion of weeds and out-worn 
faces. So does the fairest beauty change, and it will 
be as bad with you and me; and then what servants 
shall we have to wait upon us in the grave ? what 
friends to visit us? what officious people to cleanse 
away the moist and unwholesome cloud reflected upon 
our faces from the sides of the weeping vaults, which 



280 QUESTIONS ON THE EVIDENCES OF IMMORTALITY. 

are the longest weepers at onr funerals % " Thus have 
spoken to us the ministers who should proclaim " glad 
tidings ; " thus has the Church led us to the charnel-house 
— till its gloom is impressed upon onr minds with awful 
blackness, -and earth becomes as a sepulchre, forever 
yawning beneath our tread — where we walk in gloom, 
led on by popular theology, whose best consolations are 
cold, repelling, unspiritualr 

But are there not some redemptive elements in the Church sys- 
tem of consolation ? 

Yes ; there are some elements of faith and hope — 
some sparks of truth illuminating the darkness — which 
may preserve the Bible-believer from utter despair, and 
soften the anguish of the bereft. But to the clear, phi- 
losophical understanding, there are neither consolations 
nor wholesome elements in the various systems of reli- 
gious faith which are now recognized in the world., 

What is it that produces so great a change in man's conceptions of 
life and death — of the present and the future '? 

This is not the place fully to answer this question, 

but it may be well to remark, that the discovery of the 

existence of interior senses in the human mind (termed 

clairvoyance), was the beginning cause of progress in 

this new region of thought. And subsequent research 

and meditation has diffused a clear and enthusiastic joy 

over the entire being of many — imparting that serenity 



QUESTIONS ON THE EVIDENCES OF IMMORTALITY. 2S7 

of mind, untinctured with fanaticism, which so beau- 
tiful^ characterizes the truly harmonial man. 

Can you explain how the " interior senses" act, superior to the 
bodily organs, in bringing- to light the fact of immortality ? 

Yes; the interior clairvoyant senses can gaze upon 
higher worlds, and reveal new worlds within the one 
we at present dwell upon. These senses address man's 
inward sources of knowledge ; the} r speak to his Intu- 
ition and Iteason. As the microscopic and telescopic 
worlds are hidden, in their prismatic splendors and 
awful magnitudes, from the powers and penetrations of 
man's corporeal senses ; so, from the same limited 
vision, are concealed the stupendous magnificence of 
the spiritual universe, and the kindling skies and inde- 
scribable beauties of the eternal spheres. But, to the 
interior senses, all these worlds are visible. Men, and 
things, and planets, and angels, and future existence, 
and the vital laws of Father-God — all, appear in that 
consistent order and philosophic precision which distin- 
guish the truth from the dark chaos of mythic The- 
ology. To the interior senses, the changes of Mother- 
Nature are indications of the ceaseless operations of 
unchangeable principles — steps from lower to higher — 
from matter to spirit. A birth, a fleeting existence, a 
death — these are manifestations of the beautiful Laws of 
progression and development. When the fair foliage 



288 QUESTIONS ON THE EVIDENCES OF IMMORTALITY. 

with which summer adorns the forests, and the flowers 
which garnish earth, are changed — tinted by the breath 
of the rude autumnal winds — and when the blushing 
rose and the modest violet shed their leaves upon the 
frost-covered ground, then the philosophic heart is not 
saddened. These obvious changes diffuse no melan- 
choly vapor over the healthy mind. They mean that a 
brief period of rest has arrived preparatory to the 
resurrection of kindred elements in higher forms and 
other essences ; to unfold, if possible, a still more lovely 
spring and a sweeter summer, when Mother-Nature's 
domain will again be decked with high-raised foliage 
and beautiful garlands. 

Does the harmonial philosopher find his consolations in objective 
existence ? 

No ; and yet the true philosopher sees, in every out- 
ward process and object, a form of internal truth which 
is full of unfailing consolation. For example : the sun 
absorbs its far-spreading radiance, and disappears be- 
hind the western hills, and a dark curtain is drawn 
over the earth ; but, lo ! the darkness reveals innumer- 
able stars. These royal orbs — robed in garments of es- 
sential light, and controlling, like mighty gods, the many 
planets which traverse the boundless domain of solar 
systems — are visible only when the sun is unseen. Its 
light is gone out, yet there is no darkness, no death, no 



QUESTIONS ON THE EVIDENCES OF IMMORTALITY. 289 

funeral. Although the clouds may temporarily conceal 
the distant orbs from our view, and a sad gloom settles 
upon our minds, and a dreamy slumber succeeds it, yet 
ere we awake, the sun is already arisen in the east, 
tinging the distant clouds with auroral splendor, and 
converting the weeping dew into rays of golden light, 
bathing the mountains and the valleys, the gardens and 
the fields of Mother-Nature, with a fresher and a lovelier 
radiance ! 

You picture the Spirit Land to be one of uniform happiness to all 
people ; now, if this be so, what possible motive can an unhappy 
earthling have to desist from suicide ? 

The answer is ample and conclusive. It is always 
true that, when a body dies on earth, a soul comes out, 
more or less beautiful, in the angelic land. But a 
bright beauty and glory cannot be obtained there by 
violation of natural laws, by wrong motives, or by the 
voluntary extinction of life in this world. No ; it is 
only when Father-God's and Mother-Nature's Laws are 
permitted their full and complete operations — it is only 
when the issues of inimitable principles are patiently 
received and cherished — that glory, happiness, and pro- 
motion, are attained through physical dissolution. In 
the voyage from childhood to maturity, our bark is 
frequently overtaken by storms — dark clouds hang o'er 

our heads, weeping sadly, as if some fearful disaster 
13 



290 QUESTIONS ON THE EVIDENCES OF IMMORTALITY. 

were prepared for its in the next hour — and we, too, 
mingle oar voices with the dirge of mournful sighs, 
and resign ourselves to the fearful calamity. But the 
next hour is redolent with sunshine and safety ; the 
elements of Nature have but changed places — inferior 
conditions are transferred to superior circumstances — 
our disturbed feelings have but induced a quiet and 
refreshing slumber ; and our waking is into fresh vigor 
and lasting joy. Such is the ultimate experience of 
him who, having done all within his power to prevent 
every description of disaster and discord, yields to the 
legitimate operations of Nature, and rolls into harmony 
with God's eternal purposes, as an infant falls asleep on 
its mother's breast. Such is the death-bed experience 
of the true student and lover of Mother- Nature, of the 
true lover and server of Father-God. 

What is the great lesson which you mean to teach by the fore- 
going ? 

The great lesson which I would have enstamped on 
men's souls is, that the harmonial formation of charac- 
ter — in harmony with the principles of Universal Love 
and Distributive Justice — is the only security against 
temporal unhappiness and future disturbances. Let us 
remember that true valor, true principles, and true 
motives of action, only, can promote us to the position 
and glory of the sun ; while unrighteous ambition and 



QUESTIONS ON THE EVIDENCES OF IMMORTALITY. 291 

impure intentions, convert us into the pale and power- 
less satellite which borrows its light — being visible only 
when the greater and purer radiance of the sun is 
bathing and beautifj'ing landscapes behind the western 
hills. Progression is made by a reasonable belief in 
progress. Harmony of character and loveliness of dis- 
position unfold gradually from unwavering efforts to 
acquire them. May such faith and such efforts be our 
crown and adornments — for they are at once the causes 
and effects of fraternal harmony and personal happiness. 

All cannot exercise the interior senses ; few can realize your ex- 
perience ; what can be said to console such minds ? 

It is no part of the Harmonial Philosophy to depend 
solely upon outward evidences — upon perception and 
testimony; on the contrary, its students are referred 
each to the fixed principles of universal Nature. This 
method has been strictly followed by the writer, and 
the deathbed consolations to my spirit are many and 
ample. We may weep, but only for joy and gratitude. 
The dear departed is not in the coffin — is not dead — is 
not buried in the earth — the sod will not always con- 
ceal from your view the hand that has pressed yours ; 
neither the face that has darted its smiles and emotions 
into your spirits. Nay, not so — the bonc-and-muscle- 
garment which the spirit had worn for years, has been 
properly conveyed to its appropriate hiding-place; 







292 QUESTIONS ON THE EVIDENCES OF IMMORTALITY. 

while the eternal Inmost lias glided to a fairer country 
— where friends and acquaintances surround, and pour 
forth the deep anthems of congratulation. A bud has 
burst, and a rose is unrolled ; the night is passed, and 
the sun shines bright in the heavens. A light has been 
extinguished on earth, but the light grows brighter 
under another sky. Divine elements have proceeded 
from the centre of the universe — through innumerable 
forms and combinations of matter — into the organiza- 
tion of a human soul. That soul has stru^led with the 
physical and social world — has lived through the cater- 
pillar stage of existence — has escaped the rudi mental 
form. It now resides in the land of the, butterfly ; in 
the home of the spirit. Its pathway is onward and 
upward — leading the happy pilgrim nearer and nearer 

tO the ETERNAL MAGNET to the INFINITE MlND ! 

All who are acquainted with the postulates of the 
Harmonial Philosophy will remember, among other 
things, that the anterior part of every human head is 
atheistical, is sceptical, is materialistic ; that the highest 
portion is deistical, is a believer, is spiritual ; that the 
posterior portion of every head is idolatrous, is loving, 
is devotional. The cerebellic portion is called " Love ; " 
when inverted it is terrible to contemplate. The front 
portion is called " Intellect ; " when inactive, it is idi- 
otic. The superior portion is called " Spiritual ; " when 



QUESTIONS ON THE EVIDENCES OF IMMORTALITY. 293 

subverted, it induces the inquisitorial cruelties recorded 
by the blood of thousands. 

What do the upper faculties teach the intellect ? 

When normally exercised, the " spiritual " portion of 
man's head teach eth not only that his soul hath a God, 
but that it is itself a god ; not only that there are spirits 
beyond the vale, but that his own existence is a spirit. 
But the spiritual portion of man's head — being the high- 
est, the last, and most perfect development of character 
— is little exercised in this age of the world. Persons 
are, therefore, devotional through the Love-nature ; and 
sceptical, through the front parts of the head. In 
churches and out of churches there are sceptics and in- 
fidels ; to every fundamental principle which underlies 
this stupendous development. Merchants and ministers, 
when honest and transparent, appear equally sceptical. 
They have doubtless heard — " the importance of investi- 
gation." Many reasons there arc — cogent and startling 
to men of conscience, to men of intellect, to men of 
moral and religious aspirations — why spiritualism should 
be investigated. 

What do you consider a sufficient reason? 

The most momentous reason why spiritualism should 
be examined is this : that it numbers already more be- 
lievers than Christianity gained after three centuries and 
a half of primitive enterprise ! It is extensively wide- 



294 QUESTIONS ON THE EVIDENCES OF IMMORTALITY. 

spread ; if false, it is equally fatal. If true, it should 
be made universal, beneficent, useful. How necessary, 
then, that men should be candid and truthful in ap- 
proaching a question to which are attached such im- 
mense and lasting consequences. 

Few public minds have treated this question with sincerity ; in 
view of this — what is the scientific exposition of the " rappings " — 
as satirically given about two years since by the ascended Galen ? 

Mysterious rappings proceed from the sub-derange- 
ment and hyper-effervescence of small conical glandular 
bodies situated heterogeneously in the rotundum of the 
inferior acephalocysts / which, by coming in unconscious 
contact with the etherization of the five superior proces- 
ses of the dosal vertebras, also results in " tippings," by 
giving rise to spontaneous combustion with certain ab- 
normal evacuations of multitudinous echinorhyncus 
bicornis, situated in various abdominal orifices. The 
raps occur from the ebullitions of the former in certain 
temperamental structures ; and the tips from the thor- 
acic cartilaginous ducts, whenever their contents are 
compressed by cerebral inclinations. 

What is Galen's scientific report of the affection (or disease) which 
the prejudiced affirm against mediums ? 

All rapping media have that extraordinary affection, 
known by the profession as cephalomatous — being, in 
common phraseology, an elastic obtu.seness of the supe- 
rior hemispheres of the cerebellosus. Whenever such 



QUESTIONS ON THE EVIDENCES OF IMMORTALITY. 295 

patients (vulgarly termed "mediums") arrange their 
manui (hands) or eerebellous functions and protuber- 
ances in corpus juxtaposition with a table or other sub- 
stance, the r moving s occur as a matter of compulsatory 
necessity, to wit : by an ejaculation of volatile invisible 
effervential gases (fiatulentus cerebelli), generated by 
the decomposition of the ascaris lumbricoides j which, 
being regular descendants of the gymnotus electricus, 
perambulate miscellaneously through the duodenum and 
the abdominal viscera generally. The vulgar theories 
and anti-professional hypotheses of spiritual spasmodic 
action of the muscular system, or of electrical aura, in 
spontaneous dislodgment and preternatural infiltration, 
we pronounce delusive, gentlemen, and unhesitatingly 
reject them, in toto, as unhealthy excretions and galvanic 
evolutions of diseased and confused eerebellous glands, 
called, by the uneducated, phrenological organs or 
faculties. 

It is well known that so-called scientific men pretend to informa- 
tion on this subject which they do not possess ; in view of this super- 
cilious profession, what is Galen's ironical definition of the treatment 
of media? 

Observation, indorsed by a stupendous array of clinic 

experience, enables the scientific man to pronounce this 

" spiritual-rapping-and-table-moving" development, to 

be an irregular and anti-scientific disease, raging among 

the lower and superstitious classes — affecting by inocu- 



296 QUESTIONS ON THE EVIDENCES OF IMMOKTALITY. 

lation certain predisposed organisms in higher circles of 
society. Patients, who realize membraneous and abnor- 
mal nervo-excitements by attendance upon rapping as- 
semblages, may be considered, by the regular allopathic 
faculty, as being afflicted with a hypergenesis in the pig- 
baceous cartilage of the medullary processes. The con- 
veniencies of the Hospital should be secured to such 
patients, as a surgical operation may be correct treat- 
ment in chronic cases ; and our countless students should 
see such cases scientifically treated by the regular 
faculty. 

What does the satirical Galen say in conclusion ? 

Furthermore, in conclusion, to enlighten you still 
more on the pathognomical symptoms of this extraor- 
dinary disease, I will state * as a result of my recent 
three-quarters-of-an-hour investigation, that patients who 
fancy they hear "raps "and see "tables move " are 
mostly laboring with a hyperacitsis in the tympanum 
cavity, also, very probably, with chronic liypersthenia. 
The symptoms are recognizable by protusion of the 
visual orbs, irregularly-distended mouth, suspended 
breathings, with occasional ejaculations, and a morbid 
exaltation of the sense of touch ; treatment should be 
prompt and allopathic — anti-phlogistic, anti-scolic, anti- 

* Galen here speaks like some wordy member of the medical pro- 
fession. 



QUESTIONS ON THE EVIDENCES OF IMMORTALITY. 297 

spasmodic — with three of our best leeches periodically 
applied to the patient's purse. 

It is well enough known that men in general do not rely upon 
their own spiutual faculties ; therefore will you not give your im- 
pressions on the material evidences that man is a spirit ? 

Yes ; and I will begin with this proposition : that 
man's spirit is a product of his organization — that the 
physical organization of man is designed, by the whole 
system of Nature, to manufacture the form and struct- 
ure of the spiritual principle. 

How can you substantiate this proposition ? 

One proof is : man contains within his body a little 
of all which is to be found out of it. For example : he 
may employ an allopathic physician, who will feed him 
upon mineral preparations. Minerals can be absorbed by 
the physical system, because they find acquaintance 
there. The supercarbonate, the muriatic tincture, and 
the peroxide of iron, also all the different forms of sil- 
ver and gold, and other metals from gold to the lowest 
substance in the mineral world — all find an acquaint- 
ance in man's physical organization. Chemists know 
that there can be no real attraction, no appropriation, 
without affinity. Man's body could not absorb iron or 
gold — none of the sixty-four primates which form the 
physical constitution of Mother-Nature — unless in his 

organization there resided a spirit of invitation. Iron 
13* 



298 QUESTIONS ON THE EVIDENCES OF IMMOKTALITY. 

within invites iron without. Give man too much, and 
his system will try to repel it. It is not the substance, 
but the quantity. This is the reason why allopathic 
medicines frequently substitute themselves for diseases 
which they were given to cure. 

Does this proof appear equally obvious in the use of vegetable 
substances ? 

Yes ; another proof is : that man can take a little of 
every kind of vegetation, of fruit and berries, which 
exist upon the face of the earth. The Cicuta plant, 
belladonna, and stramonium, are administered and ab- 
sorbed. No such absorption could take place without 
a welcoming affinity. Men eat the muscle of the ox, of 
the deer, of the lambj of birds, of fish, and the tortoise ; 
because there is something corresponding in the body 
which invites animals, vegetables, minerals. The main 
question for dietists is : how to combine food, how much 
to eat, and when to eat it. 

What is the doctrine which you now desire to impress ? 

The doctrine which I now urge upon your attention 
is : that man's body is the fruition of all organic na- 
ture ; that the spirit body is formed by the outer body. 
I am writing now as if the reader had just begun, in 
the primary department of the school of the Ilarmonial 
Philosophy. The body is the focal concentration of all 
substances / the spirit is the organic combination of all 



QUESTIONS ON THE EVIDENCES OF IMMORTALITY. 299 

forces. The representation of every particle of matter, 
therefore, is ultimately made by man. 

Do you mean to teach that the spirit is manufactured by the body ? 

Nay ; I mean to teach that the body of the spirit (the 
soul) is a result wrought out by the physical organiza- 
tion ; not that the spirit is created, but that its strtw- 
ture is formed by means of the external body. Mind 
internally is not a creation or ultimation of matter ; but 
mental organization is a result of material refinement. 
Man's organism is composed of muscles, bones, tissues, 
membranes, visceral organs : these structures must have 
some specific purpose. 

What uses do these structures subserve iu the economy? 

The use of a physical bone is to make a spiritual 
bone; even so the physical muscle makes a spiritual 
muscle ; not the essence, but the form thereof. The 
use of the cerebrum is to make a spiritual front brain ; 
even so the cerebellum makes a spiritual back brain. 
Inside the visible spine is the spiritual spine invisible ; 
the material lungs contain spiritual organs of respira- 
tion. The physical ear is animated by a spiritual ear. 
In a word, the whole outward body is a representation 
of that which is imperishable. Father-God and Mother- 
Nature first unfold lungs, eyes, ears, brains, bones, 
muscles, and tissues. What a stupendous marvel! 



300 QUESTIONS ON THE EVIDENCES OF IMMORTALITY. 

Throughout all subterranean caverns these structures 
exist in principle. My investigations lead me to affirm 
that there is a spiritual anatomy within this physical 
anatomy ; a spiritual physiology within the physical 
physiology ; that man's physical structures operate, like 
the wheels and processes of a mill, to manufacture the 
spirit's external organization. Mother-Nature claims 
the physical body ; and Father-God claims that which 
is spiritual. Father-God and Mother-Nature, by their 
celestial copulations, formed these children ! 

Can you illustrate your impression ? 

I will try. Plant a peach-pit in the earth. Mother- 
Nature, by her subtle magnetism, warms and swells it. 
Presently it breaks through the earth's crust, and comes 
out. At first, a tuft is only seen. Gradually, however, 
foot upon foot of wood is added ; then come beautiful 
branches; these branches produce others smaller and 
better ; and lastly, the whole tree is perfected. 

Wliy does that tree exist ? 

It exists to the end that its whole might bring forth 
peaches. These peaches go to work, in due course, to 
reproduce their kind. Even so all Nature exists to the 
end that man may come forth ; then, the types being 
established, the process changes to propagation; and 
men continue to multiply and replenish the earth. 



QUESTIONS ON THE EVIDENCES OF IMMORTALITY. 301 
Do you mean that man's inmost spirit is a substance ? 

Yes ! "Ah, Jackson, you're a materialist ! " Nay ; I 
am not. Mind, essentially different from matter, is 
eternal; so, also, is Matter, essentially distinct from 
mind, eternal. These principles, as male and female, 
live together in unchangeable wedlock. One is what I 
term Father-God ; the other, is Mother-Nature. 

What do you mean by saying that spirit is substance ? 

I mean that spirit is the absence of nonentity ; that 
matter, after reaching its highest point of unparticled 
attenuation, becomes a celestial magnetism ; that the 
spiritualism essence takes hold of this material mag- 
netism ; that, at this point, the two are married ; and a 
succession of elaborations commence until the whole 
spiritual structure is completed. First, there is muscle ; 
second, nerve ; third, blood ; fourth, tissue ; fifth, brain ; 
sixth, electricity ; seventh, magnetism. When arrived 
at the highest point, vital magnetism, you have reached 
the seventh degree. 

Let us now go further. Motion begins upon magnet- 
ism ; Life on motion ; Sensation upon life ; Intelligence 
upon sensation. Commence at the bone-basis and walk 
up-stairs. Bone — Muscle — Nerve — Blood — Tissue — 
Brain — Electricity — Magnetism — Motion — Life — Sen- 
sation — Intelligence. Twelve rounds in the upright 
ladder of existence ! 



302 QUESTIONS ON THE EVIDENCES OF IMMORTALITY. 
Do you mean to teach that spirit is matter ? 

~No ; I mean to teacli that spirit is substance. The 
most definite conception of nothing ever given to man- 
kind, is, the theological idea of spirit ! 

Can you demonstrate that the spirit of man is a substance ? 

Yes ; I can take the method of the scientific world, 
and affirm, as self-evident, that there can be no motion 
without force ; that no substance can be moved without 
weight, which implies substance. Every person's expe- 
rience is a complete demonstration that spirit is a sub- 
stance ; that spirit can move weight. Look into the 
street yonder ; see persons, with bodies, weighing from 
seventy-five to two hundred pounds. What an immense 
quantity ; in the aggregate, how many tons ! Those 
bodies of weight, solid weight, would not move if 
the spirits were gone out. No deception ; it is real 
bone, real muscle, real matter. Can there be mo- 
tion without force ? Can substance be moved without 
weight ? Can something be moved by no-thing ? Can 
entity be moved by non-entity 1 The fact of your 
existence, of moving your body about from place to 
place, is evidence that spirit is substance. It requires 
intelligence to act upon sensation, sensation to act upon 
life, life to act upon motion, motion to act upon mag- 
netism, magnetism to act upon the brain, and so on 
down through the sympathetic system — composed of 



QUESTIONS ON THE EVIDENCES OF IMMORTALITY. 303 

membranes, blood, nerves, muscles — down until the 
bone is reached and controlled. Thus you go down 
the stairs every time you move your hand — down 
twelve rounds in the ladder of normal consciousness. 
You even move without thinking. You may produce a 
gigantic manifestation of muscular power even without 
thought. And why? Because your hidden spirit- 
principle is composed of all vital forces. It can, there- 
fore, think and do a great many things at the same ?no- 
ment. Every time a voluntary muscular manifestation 
is made, your thoughts pass through several telegraphic 
depots — sensation, life, motion, nerves, muscles, etc., as 
already explained. Thus, telegraphic despatches are 
sent by the will-force to all departments of the system. 
Man's spirit demonstrates its own substantiality ; by 
means of its own normal manifestations. I appeal to 
no other Bible than to man's own Life-Book ! Let 
every intelligent person, who doubts that spirit is sub- 
stance, shut off all foregone conclusions, go into the 
Innermost for ten brief minutes, consider this proposi- 
tion in the light of his own daily and hourly experience, 
and quite certain am I that he will require no other or 
better argument. 

You intimated that you had two propositions in view ; what is the 
second ? 

My second proposition is this : that although the spirit 



304: QUESTIONS ON THE EVIDENCES OF IMMORTALITY. 

of man is substance and weight, although it hath elas- 
ticity and divisibility and the several ultimate qualifica- 
tions and properties of matter, yet that it (spirit) obeys 
laws which are superior to ordinary gravitation and su- 
perior (not antagonistic) to the known physical forces. 
Gravitation refers to weight ; to rarity, to density ; to 
squares of distances. Physical forces in nature are of 
various hinds. Some are mechanical, as the lever, the 
screw, etc. ; but the spirit of man obeys naturally, as it, 
should politically, a set of higher laws. 

How can you sustain this proposition — with what proof ? 

The proof is prima facie — that man's being is double : 
twofold throughout. These are signs on the outward 
structure pointing to the corresponding fountains of 
causation inward. Man has two eyes, two brains, two 
hands, two feet, two sides to the lungs; the human 
heart is double, and so is each part of the system. 
What does it mean ? Merchants put signs without their 
stores ; to indicate what they are doing within. 

Do you mean to teach that the body indicates the soul ? 

Yes ; the double visible structures come from double 
invisible principles; and these are male and female. 
They operate reciprocally; they regulate all action and 
all animation. One contracts and the other expands. 
These two principles cause sensation to flow from the 
head to the extremities and a return wave to go from 



QUESTIONS ON THE EVIDENCES OF IMMORTALITY. 305 

the extremities to the centre of the sensorium. "When 
there is harmony there is reciprocation. How conld 
there be such a beautiful compensatory activity in man's 
system, unless there were some grand correspondential 
principles underlying and producing it all ? One prin- 
ciple, I repeat, is positive; the other is negative — or, 
one is male, the other is female. These principles to- 
gether form a unit — uniting the double system in one 
action. This positive and negative Law is that which 
the mind obeys. Men go and come in obedience to this 
law. For example : if you feel a power in the Koran 
more positive than that which influences you to read 
this work, you will ere long leave these pages and seek 
those more attractive. Man ever obeys the strongest 
attraction. That attraction may come through the in- 
tellectual, the moral, or the social nature ; whatever the 
direction whence it comes, it is a manifestation of this 
double principle. Why not say, then, that Life is ample ; 
that it is a plenarily inspired book ? 

Can you further explain and illuminate your proposition, that 
spirit obeys a law higher than common gravitation ? 

Yes ; the heart throws blood to the head. By what 
law is this done ? Is it not higher than that of cravita- 
tion ? AVater has weight, and in consequence will run 
down hill. But, in man's body, water runs up hill! 
The heart is constantly sending a mass of blood to the 



306 QUESTIONS ON THE EVIDENCES OF IMMORTALITY. 

brain. Where now is your physical law ? When you 
come to analyze the spirit, take care lest your analogies 
be constrained. It is easy to get lost in the intricate 
mazes of psychology. Men float in a sea of boundless 
conjecture. Yes; " water will flow down hill." But 
apply this analogy to the spirit — and say, that if spirit 
be substance, it cannot get beyond the physical gravita- 
tion of the earth — and you make a fundamental mistake. 
If I were to affirm that the spirits of some men, after 
residing a proper time in the spiritual world, weigh 
seventy-five pounds, you would reply that such persons 
would be governed by the law of gravitation — which law 
would cause a stone of less weight, projected into the 
air, to fall to the earth again. But I -reply that this 
spirit, unlike inanimate bodies, operates upon a positive 
and negative principle ; by virtue of which, the spirit 
holds up the body, and the body holds up the spirit. 
■ Will you not restate your two propositions ? 

Yes ; my two propositions are first, that spirit is a 
substance ; second, that this substance, although not 
unlike matter, obe}^s a law higher than gravitation. 
The last proposition is illustrated by the heart which 
throws the blood to the finest ramifications of the vascu- 
lar system, and magnetically calls it all back again to its 
primal fountains. The blood runs up hill every instant 
of time. You have heard the analogy, that the heart 



QUESTIONS ON THE EVIDENCES OF IMMORTALITY. 307 

is a force-pump. But the truth is, that this organ, un- 
like a pump, operates upon positives and negatives — by 
alternate contractions and expansions. 

What enables the physical heart to perform this function ? 

The visible heart performs this function, because 
there is a corresponding spiritual heart within it. A 
spiritual heart performs a material manifestation. The 
spiritual heart, which is something, moves the physical 
heart, which also is something, more external. 

Where is the seat or centre of the soul ? 

The centre of the soul is near the centre of the brain. 
There is a small nucleus in which is concentrated the vital 
power of all that constitutes a man. This place, in the 
lifeless brain, is not larger that a buck-shot. In the liv- 
ing brain it is as large as a frost-grape. Now grant the 
idea that spirit is substance, and that, nevertheless, it 
obeys a law higher than gravitation, and you are pre- 
pared to comprehend many of the facts of death. 

Will you describe the facts of death as seen by clairvoyance ? 

Yes ; death is a continual manifestation. The body 
is gradually passing into a state of insensibility. Look 
at it ; feel of it. It is just what it was, except that it is 
cooler. Disagreeable humidity and a chilliness; it hath 
a look of coming annihilation. Look at it with vonr 
bodily eyes ! 



308 QUESTIONS ON THE EVIDENCES OF IMMORTALITY. 

Is there any sensible evidence that a spirit of substance is ascend- 
ing 1 from that brain ? 

ISTo ; the sensuous evidence is somewhat otherwise. 
Weigh the dea"d body. It will weigh as much as it did 
before death, probably a little more. Why ? Because 
the absence of action increases specific gravity ; by giv- 
ing a greater advantage to the law of ordinary gravita- 
tion. Nevertheless, I affirm, that the spirit's organism 
is substance ; that it weighs something. 

How many times have you witnessed the departure of spirit ? 

I have clairvoyantly observed it about thirty times. 
In regard to this function of dying I have but one testi- 
mony. Outward vision borders upon the thought of 
nonentity. People called " second-ad ventists " believe 
in the annihilation of spirit, except it be saved through 
the miracle and sufferance of a risen Saviour. Unless 
they be dead in Christ they dare not hope for resurrec- 
tion. Other church people have modified their views. 
The substance of all Christian doctrine is, that breath 
animates the body ; this once breathed out, the body is 
no more ; and the spirit is nothing, except by virtue of 
a miracle. This theory in regard to the substantial - 
ness of the spirit is very strange ; only, however, as all 
error is strange. 

Does the death of a body, and the spiritual liberation, resemble 
the birth of a child ? 

Yes ; the centre of the head, the seat of the soul, ab- 



QUESTIONS ON THE EVIDENCES OF IMMORTALITY. 309 

sorbs the life principles from the feet, hands, muscles, 
bones, nerves, blood. Presently this centre expands. 
The brain and the skull are porous; and there is an 
emanation. This emanating substance ascends through 
the wall, and reaches a place in the atmosphere, higher 
than clouds and storms. When arrived, there are in 
readiness many accouchers ; men and women, from the 
Second Sphere, waiting the new birth. It is not larger 
now than the morning-star; to the eye it is but a radi- 
ant point of light. Now it begins to expand ; to look 
more like a human face. A human head begins to 
round out ; yet it is small, light, vapory. The neck and 
shoulders are slowly built up. It continues to grow 
more real ; now you see the shoulders and arms ; and 
now all the structure complete ! The lungs come out 
there, and the heart ; good prototypes of the physical 
organs. The heart still hath its sensibility. The spirit 
is like a child, just merging into being. It feels the 
pressure of a fresh atmosphere ; of strange surroundings. 
It keeps outfolding very light; very like an infant. 
Presently it is disengaged and complete, above the 
storm ; perhaps, five hundred furlongs away. Thus, 
the spirit-child is born out of the body : which was its 
mother ! 

There was Dr. Webster, who put away Dr. Parkman : will you tell 
what you witnessed iu that instance ? 

Yes ; I had an opportunity to observe the process of 



310 QUESTIONS ON THE EVIDENCES OF IMMORTALITY. 

death by hanging. I was, at the time, boarding in 
Cambridge, Mass. "While the final trial was proceed- 
ing, I prayed to ascertain his mental state. I examined 
him, therefore, and the knowledge thereof was good for 
me • but what I wish to speak of now, is, the experience 
of his last moments ; of his emergement into a different 
and better Sphere. At eleven o'clock, one day, I went 
from the Brattle House to Mount Auburn. Alone 
there, enveloped by the suggestive solitude of that beau- 
tiful place, I passed into the interior. By clairvoyance 
I looked through the distance of three miles ; gazed 
into the yard of the jail in Leverett street, Boston. 
Carefully I viewed the spectacle. And I testify to 
what I observed ; to illustrate the soul'^s immortality. 

"When the fatal word was given, his body fell. I saw 
the effect it had upon his spirit. If all the weight of 
Boston city had been concentrated in one cannon-ball, 
and if this ball had fallen upon the head of Dr. A7eb- 
ster, he would not have experienced a more instantan- 
eous annihilation of personality. As quick as the tele- 
graph can give one pulse from New York to Boston, 
so quick was the suspension of all his consciousness. 
This was the first person I ever saw hung ; and I hope 
the last. Everything was still. Motion, life, sensation, 
intelligence, magnetism, electricity — all was still as the 
stillest breath. Yv T hen he was taken down, I saw him 



QUESTIONS ON THE EVIDENCES OF IMMORTALITY. 311 

laid in the cofSn. They pronounced him dead ; but his 
spirit was not gone out ; and it seemed to me that he 
might have been restored. 

Did you watch the departure of his spirit ? 

Yes ; during seven hours and a half — the longest 
period I ever watched — I observed the process. It took 
him seven and a half hours to be born into the other 
Sphere. This was done without his consciousness of 
having any existence. The soul-centre of the head — 
which became as a star — ascended about four miles 
above the streets : at an angle of about thirty degrees. 
It grew rapidly positive, and began to draw upon the 
elements still remaining in the body. This little radiant 
power in the atmosphere was surrounded by five spirit- 
ualized personages. It grew more positive, and pulsated. 
There came out indistinct features, gradually ; then the 
neck and the shoulders ; then child-like hands, etc., till 
the organization was complete (as I have described in 
previous volumes). lie was profoundly and congestively 
asleep. His consciousness was somewhat between sen- 
sation and thought ; that is, he had neither thought nor 
sensation; his state was just between joy and sorrow, 
heat and cold, harmony and discord. It was temporary 
annihilation. There were live spirit-persons attending 
him. By their kindly offices he was carried to the 
Spirit Home. I saw where he was by them deposited. 



312 QUESTIONS ON THE EVIDENCES OF IMMORTALITY. 

How long- did he remain in that semi-annihilated state ? 

lie was eight days and a half in that semi-uncon- 
scious situation. Every day, at eleven o'clock, I walked 
out to the retirements of Mt. Auburn, in order to wit- 
ness that beautiful spectacle beyond the Milky-Way ! 
On the ninth day, I saw throughout the spiritual atmos- 
phere, a strange, vibratory pulsation. It seemed to 
tremble wave-like through the whole heavens. At first, 
I observed it in the distance. It kept rushing on, swell- 
ing out, pulsating round about ; until it penetrated Dr. 
Webster's spiritual brain. As he roused and opened his 
new organs, I saw upon him certain expressions of agi- 
tation, alarm, wonder, somewhat of gratification. He 
made an effort at memory — " What ! is this Boston ? — 
Is this a dream ? — Have I been asleep ? — I was hung. — 
No ! this is not Boston." Thus, he was awakened by 
music, to a knowledge of his future work. 

Do yon mean that man's spirit grows in the Second Sphere, and 
increaseth in substance and weight ? 

Yes ; spirit grows in the spiritual world — as children 

grow in the natural — by inspiration, aggregation, and 

secretion. 

Can you offer some illustration ? 

Yes ; plant a young peach-tree in a half ton of earth : 
placed in wooden or earthen enclosure, with a few holes 
only to admit moisture. Previous to planting, weigh the 



QUESTIONS ON THE EVIDENCES OF IMMOETALITY. 313 

earth to an ounce. We will suppose that you have half 
a ton, plus twenty-eight pounds. Now let the tree grow 
in its own beautiful way, year after year, till it hath 
brought forth peaches. This matured tree will now 
weigh, perhaps, one hundred and fifty pounds. Then 
weigh the earth, and you will not miss more than two or 
three ounces ! How can you account for the peach-tree, 
while the supporting earth beneath weighs no less? 
This question answers the other. The spiritual body 
which, when it escapes the material body, does not weigh 
more than the sixteenth of a pound, continues to absorb 
from the elements of the invisible air, until it becomes 
comparatively weighty, acquiring not only a power of 
gravitation, but also a power to overcome it. 

What may be said about the unity of causes ? 

The unity and fixity of truth presupposes and deter- 
mines the unity of causes. That is to say, whatever 
caused vegetation to grow on the plains of Judea four 
thousand years ago, produces the identical effect in the 
State of New York to-day. And our next affirmation is 
equally plain and irresistible, viz. : whatever law will 
explain the manifestations of the nineteenth century, 
will adequately solve the manifestations of past ages, 
and throw off, thus, all the mystery and incomprehensi- 
bility which have hitherto lurked over the regions of 

miracle and supernaturalism. 
14 



314 QUESTIONS ON THE EVIDENCES OF IMMORTALITY. 

What does the Apostle Paul say concerning Spiritualism ? 

Paul said there were in his day diversities of gifts, and 
diversities of operations. But the manifestestation of 
the Spirit is given to every man to profit. For to 
one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom ; to an- 
other the word of knowledge by the same Spirit ; to an- 
other faith, by the same Spirit ; to another the gift of 
healing, by the same Spirit ; to another the working of 
miracles ; to another prophecy ; to another discerning 
of spirits ; to another divers kinds of tongues ; to an- 
other the interpretation of tongues ; but all these are by 
one and the self-same Spirit, dividing to every man sev- 
erally as he will. 

Is the Apostle's account based upon theology or philosophy ? 

Paul's words are mostly theological, yet there is pro- 
found philosophy lurking in these few passages. In the 
first place, Paul affirms that every person is a medium. 
Instead of " gifts," however, I would have said endow- 
ments, qualifications ; a faculty, an ability, not imparted 
to the mind, but an element latent in mind, which invites 
and produces manifestation. Upon examination, I 
think the reader would change this word " gift," to " en- 
dowment," implying an inherit and organic ability. Had 
Paul spoken philosophically, rather than theologically, 
he would have said : " There are diversities of qualifica- 
tions, brethren, of which I would not have you ignorant." 



QUESTIONS ON THE EVIDENCES OF IMMORTALITY. 315 

What did the Apostle mean when he said that these diverse mani- 
festations are all by the same spirit ? 

The word "spirit" signifies animus; that which 
unites, energizes, and gives vitality. There are different 
qualifications, but hy the same principle. Truth, I re- 
peat, is a unit : and like effects are never referable to 
different causes. Whatever principle explains the man- 
ifestations of the nineteenth century, must, of necessity, 
account for all similar manifestations in days of yore. 

How many varieties of media were there in the days of Panl ? 

Paul describes nine different kinds of manifestations, 
viz. : the word of wisdom, the word of knowledge, faith, 
healing, the working of miracles (that is, effects incom- 
prehensible at that age), prophecy, discerning of spirits, 
divers kinds of tongues, and interpretation of tongues. 
There were, therefore, nine different kinds of media. 
These signify differences, not of gifts, but of mental 
qualifications. Whatever principle it was which un- 
folded nine types of mediumship in the days of Paul, is 
the same which has produced twenty-four-' types of 
mediumship in the days of President Pierce and Queen 
Victoria. It is of no consequence whether men believe 
in Paul's theology or not. History is uniform in her 
testimony, that that principle, operating in Nature and 
the human soul, which brought nine mediums in the 

* See the classification in the " Present Age and Inner Life." 



316 QUESTIONS ON THE EVIDENCES OF rMMOETALITT. 

period of Paul, is sufficiently progressive and potent to 
develop twenty-four different classes in the course of 
eighteen hundred years. 

What does the Douay Bible relate concerning the mediumship 
attributed to St. John ? 

It sa} r s that John, the son of Zebedee and Salome, 
brother to James the Greater, was called the Beloved 
Disciple ; that he wrote his Gospel, not from observa- 
tion or experience, but sixty-three years after everything 
occurred about which he wrote. From this we are con- 
strained to conclude that John — the beloved, the earnest, 
the enthusiastic — was compelled to take memory, or 
tradition, or inspiration. Which do you say ? Will you 
take memory for sixty-three years? Will you trust 
tradition for sixty-three years ? Human experience, in 
the main, is identical. And such experience proves 
that memory is defective in sixty- three hours ; and tra- 
dition is seldom trustworthy sixty-three days from the 
date of its tale. You are driven, then, to the last 
.ground : to assume for the Apostle a sort of revelation 
or inspiration. If John's Gospel is to be taken as au- 
thentic, then you must find some explanation of the 
mode of his getting at correct information. If he re- 
ceived his ideas by inspiration, then what law regulated 
that inspiration ? The Douay Bible sa} T s that John 
supplied many things which the evangelists omitted. 



QUESTIONS ON TOE EVIDENCES OF TMMOETALITY. 317 

If he supplied conversations and ideas omitted by Mat- 
thew, Mark, and Luke, then arises this question : 

What was the principle whereby St. John acquired such informa- 
tion? 

Saint Jerome states in the preface to John's Gospel, 
that when he (John) was earnestly requested by the 
brethren to write the Gospel, he answered that " he 
would do so. 5 ' Remember this was sixty-three years 
after the occurrence of the events and conversations to 
be written ! But what were the conditions ? They 
were these : " After ordering a common fast, they put 
up their prayers to the Almighty." Here, then, are two 
primary conditions : abstaining from food, and becom- 
ing reverent in soul; which "being complied with," 
says Saint Jerome, " replenished with the clearest and 
fullest revelation coming from heaven, he burst forth in 
that preface, ' In the beginning was the word,' " etc. 
Suppose a medium in the Nineteenth Century, no less 
physically and mentally prepared for manifestation, 
should be moved to write, " In the beginning was the 
Word," etc., you would perhaps say, "it is incredible." 
The idea I would urge, is — the unity of truth ; the one- 
ness of explanation. As progressive philosophers, we 
are unconcerned whether you stamp our experience 
I psychology," or " magnetism," or " hallucination." 
We can hold up to the Christian world the same expla- 






318 QUESTIONS ON THE EVIDENCES OF IMMORTALITY. 

nation of all they hold to be sacred. Our experience 
should be conscientiously examined. Because whatever 
will explain our experience, will explain similar ante- 
cedents, and force the Bible to its true position, as a 
relic or history of mediumistic literature. 

Are the modern effects of spiritualism superior to those of ancient 
days ? 

Yes ; the superiority of our manifestations, over those 
of the past, can be easily traced and demonstrated. 
Taking modern mediumistic revelations, all in all, we 
find a variety of superior results. Many mediums of 
to-day are far better than many of ancient periods. 
Let me report a case : " Now when Jesus was risen the 

first day of the week, he appeared first " to 

one of the most talented and unimpeachable characters ? 
No ! to a person about whom nothing of wrong or evil 

could be said ? No ! Have ye not heard it 

said that the manifestations of to-day cannot be divine 
because they do not come through ladies and gentlemen 
of an unimpeachable character, and through persons of 
commanding social positions ? This has been asserted 
in the Churches. Churchmen assert that the persons 
selected as media are those in whom little or no confi- 
dence can be reposed. " Jane," " Bridget," " Susan," 
" Tom," " Dick," " Harry," — indifferent persons, about 
whom the community can know nothing. And yet, I 



QUESTIONS ON THE EVIDENCES OF IMMORTALITY. 310 

am now reporting a case where, when Jesus spiritually 
arose, he appeared first — not to one of the most unim- 
peachable characters — not to one of the celebrated 
doctors of the Church, but — only to Mary Magdalene, 
out of whom he had cast seven discords. Think of it ! 
The Church believes that a detachment of the God of 
the Universe makes his first appearance to Mary Mag- 
dalene, out of whom he had cast seven (D) evils. When 
this medium told what she had seen, " they believed her 
not ; " perhaps, because her character for truth was not 
well enough established. Jesus -subsequently appeared, 
in another form, to two on the way to Emmaus ; and the 
Apostles believed them not. Afterward, however, he 
appeared unto the eleven as they sat at meat, and up- 
braided them because they believed not the testimony 
of Mary and of the two on the way to Emmaus. A 
most extraordinary circumstance when isolated and con- 
sidered by itself, but, viewed through our ample and 
superior experiences, it seemeth familiar as household 
words. If the character of our mediums reflect upon 
their manifestations, the same is not less true of the 
past. 

What relation does modern spiritualism sustain to the ancient 
Bible ? 

The Bible stands or falls upon that verdict which 
will be eventually brought in by impartial investigators. 



320 QUESTIONS ON" THE EVIDENCES OF IMMORTALITY. 

The mythological past is to be tested by the experience 
and intelligence of the present. I affirm the unadulter- 
ated spiritual origin of forty per cent, of all our expe- 
rience. The Bible is good as a history of spiritualities — 
is valuable as a history of hallucinations — just as our 
experiences may determine. It is no benefit to a Har- 
monial Philosopher that the Bible teaches spiritualism. 
But to the world it may be important, that the psycho- 
logical department of our experience turns out to be 
spiritual, so that the Bible may be retained in confidence 
as a truthful historical relic. It is of great importance 
to the Churches, and not to us, as to the explanation of 
our experiences. 

Should spiritualists endeavor to persuade the people that spirit- 
ualism is Scriptural ? 

~No ; it is of little advantage to spiritualists to Chris- 
tianize their experience. It is important to churchmen 
to know that Daniel, who had a vision (see ch. x.) ate 
no pleasant bread for three whole weeks ; drank no tea, 
no coffee ; smoked no cigars ; chewed no tobacco ; ate 
no pork or beefsteaks ; but devoted himself body and 
soul, for three whole weeks, in order to receive a mani- 
festation ! How many plethoric persons are there who 
would go without food three days to get a manifesta- 
tion ? Full of pork and potatoes, full of corruption and 



QUESTIONS ON THE EVIDENCES OE IMMORTALITY. 321 

excess, they stand up — maintaining commanding posi- 
tions in the pulpit or through the press— and sneer at 
the experience of him who is willing to forego all 
luxuries for spiritual insight. If they would but try 
the methods adopted by John or by Daniel, they would 
soon discover that spiritualism is a truth to be strength- 
ened by scientific investigation. No ! There is no pos- 
itive advantage to accrue from Christianizing spiritual- 
ism. The Universalist, once the most liberal, is now 
anxious to avoid the name "infidel." "We have 
Christian Universal ists, Christian Unitarians, Chris- 
tian Wakemanites, Christian Shakers, Christian Spir- 
tualists. Does the spiritualist need the past to indorse 
him ? Far from it. The worst disadvantages would 
result from the adoption of spiritualism by the churches. 
Let churches discover that it is their safest policy to 
invite you in, in order to preach their spiritualism to 
yon ; then accept, and you will become incrustated 
amid the consolidations of time-serving institutions. 
In fifty short years our spiritualism would have a sec- 
tarian encasement. Forbid it, O Genius of Progres- 
sion ! Spiritualists ! stand positive ; do not go backward ! 
Go up into the resplendent Temple of Father-God and 
Mother-Mature ; stand ye firmly there : and into your- 
selves welcome the spiritual testimony. 
14* 

\ 



1 



322 QUESTIONS ON THE EVIDENCES OF IMMORTALITY. 

" And they that tell us of these glorious things — 

The blessed visitants from happier spheres, 
Whose presence felt from gently- wafting wings, 

Is known more often in these later years — 
How shall we thank these shining angel-hosts 

For all their loving patience shown to us ? 
How bless these wanderers from the heavenly coasts 

Who journey here to love and labor thus ? 

" For they unseal the eyes that long have been 

Shut out from Truth by what the Preacher saith, 
And are proclaiming to the sons of men 

That God is Love and that there is no death ! 
May we not join them in their choral song, 

That swells an anthem through the fields of space 
To spheres beyond, where, radiant and strong 

Is felt the glory from the Father's face ? 

" Oh God ! we thank Thee, that the time has come 

To melt the shadow of this vast eclipse. 
It rolls away — and lo ! from those long dumb, 

Hosannahs rise, and praise is on their lips ! 
The purple morning breaketh — grand and sweet, 

It brings a day the Earth may not forget. 
Its airy streamers flow before the feet 

Of that glad sun which rises not to set ! " * 

People complain of deceiving spirits ; can you explain why spirits 
deceive ? 

In addition to ample explanations to be found in pre- 
ceding volumes, I will reply through a suggestive inci- 
dent. 

While residing in the city of Hartford, there called 
upon me a lady, a member of a church, but who, unex- 

* These excellent words are taken from a poem written by Frank- 
lin L. Burr, of Hartford, Conn. 



QUESTIONS ON TIIE EVIDENCES OF IMMORTALITY. OZ6 

pectedly to herself, became a medium for impressions. 
These impressions were (to her own mind) clear, defi- 
nite, and every way satisfactory. From word to word 
she wrote on, with great assurance, and always with a 
praise to God on her tongue. She was devotional ; and 
believed the Bible to be an emanation from the Divine. 
Therefore, on the doctrine that like cleaves to like — ■ 
that Spirits in the other world seek their counterpart 
here — she should have attracted a Bible believer — or, 
persons entertaining sentiments identical with hers. Did 
such spirits visit her ? Let us see. There was a beau- 
tiful radiance all over her countenance ; it was a deep, 
settled, and almost frightful excess of enthusiasm. I 
have often seen such expression. It is the sure sign of 
the lack of true investigation. 

Immediately on entering the hall she said, " Mr. Davis, 
I understand that you have impressions from the spirit- 
ual world. Did you ever hear of any person getting a 
communication from God ? " " Certainly," I replied. 
Then I brought to mind the whole Bible history — the 
historical development of religion — which is ever good 
to contemplate. 

"Do you ever get anything from God yourself?" 
" Certainly," I replied ; " I communicate with him every 
time I breathe. In fact, I have never supposed — since 
I have had any reasonable consciousness — that I could 



324 QUESTIONS ON THE EVIDENCES OF IMMORTALITY. 

exist without a Divine emanation. Therefore I live and 
move and exist in him." " BTo, no," exclaimed she, " I 
mean, did you ever receive into your mind words di- 
rectly from God V " Never," I answered. " Well, I 
have a communication ; and it is signed ' God.' " 

She took out her communication and read it. It was 
very sensible indeed ; and it was of importance in her 
view. Its purport was, that the Bible was written by 
chosen penmen, imparting truths deeper than those pen- 
men supposed, in order to meet the mental wants of the 
century in which it was written, and those of all the 
succeeding centuries — up to the very middle of the 
nineteenth ; but the race had, by a natural operation 
(which was not described) suddenly outgrown the whole 
letter, and much of the spirit, of the Bible ; yet the Lord 
wished to preserve the book from annihilation. He said 
science had outstripped it ; and philosophy had seen be- 
yond it. He had appointed her (the medium) to come 
to me and say, that from the high throne of Heaven he 
had chosen me out of all the inhabitants of the earth to 
re-write the Bible, and adapt it to the wants of the nine- 
teenth century — and for two thousand years to come. 
He gave many reasons why I was qualified especially to 
take hold of the translation, and go on with it. Well : 
I considered a few moments. The communication was 
signed " God," and she believed it. I resolved to run 



QUESTIONS ON THE EVIDENCES OF IMMORTALITY. 325 

the risk of shocking all her religious prejudices at once — 
for I sometimes discover, as the surgeon does, that am- 
putation is better than any temporizing palliative methods 
— in order to save the whole body from corruption. So, I 
thought, I would amputate even our friendship, perhaps ; 
for a principle is higher to me than friendship. There- 
fore I told her next time she got in communication 
with god to tell him that, in my conscience, I believed 
that there were already too many Bibles for the world's 
good; that any more would be adding insult to injury; 
and, lastly, that I was too much engaged in other mat- 
ters to undertake any such commission. 

She was shocked, of course. Her enthusiasm was 
changed into a sort of abhorrence of the blasphemy of 
a man in whom she expected to find instantaneous ap- 
probation, and a cheerful acceptance of the distin- 
guished office. She said, demurely, that she would 
comply with my request. 

In ten days she returned. She had given my message 
to god. " Well, what did he say 1 " I asked. " Why, 
he said that he was not the God of the universe, and 
never pretended to be." She then opened a spiritual 
correspondence with the apocryphal "god." I asked: 
" Why do you sign your name * God ' ? " " Because," 
he replied, " I am all the god this my charge can com- 
prehend." "Do you take this method to deceive her?" 



326 QUESTIONS ON THE EVIDENCES OF IMMORTALITY. 

" No," lie exclaimed. " Why, then, did you give her 
that message ? " " Because," he answered, " I saw no 
other way to bring her to visit with you — to bring about 
the conversation that has passed between you— and the 
results to grow out of it." " Do you mean that you are 
a very high and illustrious Spirit, and a God over 
many ? " " Not at all ; I am only a god in the sense of 
administering to the needs of m} 7 charge, helping her 
into a new dispensation. I am her guardian angel — I 
do not believe in her doctrines — I wish to convert her 
from them — I have not been deceiving — I gave her that 
message to secure your conversation — to turn her mind 
into new channels." " Do you mean to go on with her 
now ? " I asked. " Yes ; I have her confidence ; and I 
will go on with her development." 

I saw her about three months afterward. She was 
unfolded greater than all the churches; she was hap- 
pier ; was further from creed, but not less devotional. 
Her mind was entirely divested of the idea of great im- 
portance attaching to her, because she was an agent in 
the hand of her guardian-god. 

How does spiritualism compare with Christianity in its beneficial 
effect on mankind ? 

To give a just answer to this question I must first 
state the fact, that Christianity has been in the world 
nearly two thousand years, while modern spiritual inter- 



QUESTIONS ON THE EVIDENCES OF ESEMOETALITY. 327 

course is only a little more than eight years old. Now 
Christianity has never suggested a single scientific fact 
— has never developed a single broad scheme for the 
practical relief of a suffering humanity ; but, instead, 
the system has wielded its entire might in opposition to 
almost every new development — has slandered and de- 
nounced as " infidel " each one who has wrought, inde- 
pendent of sectarianism, to correct abuses in high and 
low places — has set its power against every leading phil- 
anthropist who has labored to abolish slavery and capi- 
tal punishment, to reform the misdirected voluptuary, 
and to introduce that practical religion which looks to 
the moral and intellectual regeneration of our race, in- 
stead of fashionable preaching and praying. The pio- 
neers in the cause of the Slave have encountered such 
opposition from popular religionists as did all the first 
teachers of Astronomy, Geology, and Phrenology. 
Spiritualism, on the contrary, has already discovered to 
the world a multitude of the most momentous and 
practical truths. In the fields o£ science and philos- 
ophy, especially in mental philosophy (which is fore- 
most with all intelligent, cultured minds) it has revealed 
fresh facts and demonstrated several great general prin- 
ciples. The sciences of magnetism, electricity, chemist rv, 
psychology, clairvoyance, psychometry, etc., have each 
received valuable additional illustrations and highly 



328 QUESTIONS ON THE EVIDENCES OF IMMORTALITY. 

suggestive principles from some of the departments of 
spiritualism. 

Does the world refuse such new information ? 

Yes; such information is superciliously rejected by 
the devotees of sectarianism — contemptuously repu- 
diated by the advocates of expensive churches and the 
defenders of a paid priesthood. 

But what shall we consider of ' ' practical benefit to mankind " ? 

Whatever increases the sum of human knowledge, and 
augments the joys of the human soul, is beneficial to the 
world. 

Does spiritualism have this effect on humanity ? 

Yes ; spiritualism, in addition to its scientific benefits, 
has brought to light many important religious truths, 
among which are the following : 

1. It proves that man is an organized substantial 
spirit ; 

2. It proves that his organized spirit is immortal ; 

3. It proves that his immortality consists of an infi- 
nite series of social, moral, and intellectual progressions ; 

4. It proves that all spirits advance from lower to 
higher degrees of existence ; 

5. It proves that this world is not a providentially 
probationary "vale of tears" — that it is not a fleeting 
show, for man's illusion given — but that it is the he- 
ginning of his eternal and more blessed career ; 



QUESTIONS ON THE EVIDENCES OF IMMORTALITY. 329 

6. It proves that the popular doctrine of "total de- 
pravity " is false ; that mankind as well as all Nature 
is progressive — ascending from every kind and shade of 
imperfection ; 

7. It proves that the popular doctrine of " Hell pun- 
ishments " is false ; that, instead, each individual is 
obliged, by a law of his own being, to work out, either 
in this life or the next, his own salvation from error 
and all manner of sinfulness. No vicarious atonement ; 
because punishment or pain is the legitimate and inevi- 
table result of transgression. 

These are a few of the prominent " practical benefits " 
of spiritualism. How unspeakably superior is all this 
to modern theology ! Modern theology cannot prove 
the immortality of the soul ; nor can it demonstrate 
anything to the satisfaction of intelligent minds except 
this — that it originated in the East, in the darkest re- 
cesses of tradition and superstition, and that, in its 
present form, it has proved itself quite incapable of 
blessing and harmonizing mankind. 

What is spiritualism in the estimation of some of its advocates ? 

Some define spiritualism to be " the principle, the 
essence, the science of life." They say that " it reaches 
down through the various gradations of animal, vege- 
table, and mineral nature to the most elementary forms, 



330 QUESTIONS ON THE EVIDENCES OF IMMORTALITY. 

and up through the various spheres of human develop- 
ment to the Divine Bein^." 

Is this definition correct ? 

No ; inasmuch as the term spiritualism is used to 
represent a certain state of religious development, it 
cannot be made so all-embracing in its scope. Were it 
so, every subject would necessarily " arrange itself 
under the head of spiritualism," and every human be- 
ing, of whatever belief, profession, or condition, would 
be a spiritualist. There are three great articles of faith, 
and three only, which (without forming a creed) are 
generally adopted by all who are willing to be consid- 
ered spiritualists. 

What is the first of these three articles of faith ? 

That man, as to his internal, is an organized spirit. 

What is the second ? 

That after the event called physical death, his spirit, 
preserving its individuality, and all its endowments, 
goes forward and gains a higher and better state of ex- 
istence. 

What is the third ? 

That after having become acclimated, so to say, to 
that world, and acquainted with its customs, and with 
the great recent discovery that a communication can be 
had with remaining relatives, that spirit can come back 
and demonstrate its existence ; dispensing not only so- 



QUESTIONS ON THE EVIDENCES OF IMMORTALITY. 331 

cial harmony but also occasional moral and intellectual 
feasts at spiritual tables. 

"Will the adoption of this faith prepare the mind for general re- 
form ? 

Yes; spiritualism is the fourth, the grandest, the 
most important movement of the nineteenth century. 
It is breaking up the creeds and institutions of the land, 
and sending their former devotees out into the fields of 
investigation, to seek for principles of interpretation by 
which to understand the remarkable facts which are 
pressing upon the attention of mankind. At the same 
time there is a lack of that unity of effort, which I yearn 
to see in the minds of all who adopt its three principles 
of faith. 

How can this be remedied ? 

Owing to the recent development of many and vari- 
ous progressive ideas which demand interchange of 
thought and free discussion, I deem it to be wisdom to 
adopt new and improved methods for the acquisition 
and irnpartation of knowledge. And since I believe 
that true inspiration is universal and perpetual, and 
confined to no particular age or personage, but received 
by the representative minds of botli sexes in Science, 
Literature, Art, Philosophy, Spiritualism, History, and 
Reform ; and also that the Public Rostkum should and 
will in due time supersede the private pulpit as a chan- 



332 QUESTIONS ON THE EVIDENCES OF IMMORTALITY. 

nel of transmitting instruction to the masses ; I would 
therefore recommend the establishment of free plat- 
forms oh which lectures can be given, by those inspired 
to do so, on everything to be thought of in the whole 
realm of human interest. Thus can we fraternize with 
the progressive and spiritualized talent of all countries, 
and while avoiding the dead sea of sectarianism, be- 
come instrumental in the discovery and dissemination 
of all facts both physical and spiritual, and in the pro- 
mulgation of universal truths both terrestrial and heav- 
enly. 



QUESTIONS ON THE EFFECTS OF UTIUTABIANISM. 



Every dispensation, like a globe, is susceptible of a 
thousand different interpretations. But it will serve 
our present purpose to adopt that classification whi«h is 
confirmed by all experience. The first dispensation 
was the " impulsive ; " • with which was associated the 
principle of perception. The back-brain was princi- 
pally developed ; mostly over the eyes, and between the 
ears. This age of impulse and perception culminated 
in the Mosaic period. The second age was that of 
"intellect" and reflection. The superior portions of 
the front-brain began to be developed. The intellectual 
faculties observed the earth; and that man must act 
upon and subdue it, through instrumentalities. Coupled 
with this discovery, was the disposition to inhale ideas, 
to absorb truths, to feel out, as by instinct, the great 
principles governing Nature and regulating the soul. 
This age culminated about the time when Christianity 
had fairly had an exposition. Its author and primitive 
founder foreshadowed the age of intellect or reflection. 
After this there began to appear, in different parts of 



334 QUESTIONS ON THE 

the world, another age, which I call " wisdom," includ- 
ing the rudimeutal manifestations of impulse, intuition, 
reflection, and perception. Coupled with this wisdom 
age was a principle which I call " utilitarianism," or 
the disposition to work out and embody a thought once 
conceived. At last we arrive at a development of the 
race, called the " practical,' which is the beginning of 
wisdom. 

Do you think that history will corroborate this classification ? 

Yes ; the history of man represents, first, the age of 
childhood, which is the age of Feeling; second, the age 
of manhood, which is the age of Thinking ; third, the 
asre of bloom ed-out manhood, which is the a^e of 
Action. There are persons, at all times, in each of 
these stages. Some minds represent the age of " im- 
pulse" and perception", that is, they perceive vastly 
more than they can conceive. There are others who 
represent " intuition ; " such have the power to absorb 
more ideas than they could, under the best of circum- 
stances, embody. Then there arc yet other minds, who 
represent the scientific wisdom age — the disposition to 
embody and put directly into practice every thought 
which they can conceive. 

What do you mean by the wisdom age ? 

The first manifestation of the principle of wisdom, is 
Use ; the second, is Justice ; the third, Power ; the 



EFFECTS OF UTILITARIANISM. 6oD 

fourth, Beauty; the fifth, Aspiration; the sixth, Har- 
mony. The race has taken the first step upon the thresh- 
old of the great temple of Wisdom. Use is the doc- 
trine of the Nineteenth Century. It will not be long in 
coming to great perfection in Anglo-Saxon achievements. 
Utilitarianism is in the ascendant; it is the principle su- 
preme ; the Gospel, of all in all, to the world at present. 
Men do not ask, in these days, what relation is there 
between " prophet " and " seer " — but, tell us of the 
mystic relation between "Profit" and "Loss." The 
question once was : " What shall we do to be saved ? " 
— now : " What shall we do to make it pay % " The 
nativity of the god of the Nineteenth Century can be 
traced, far back through multitudinous genealogies, to 
the threshold of the furnace of Aaron. The " Golden 
Calf," manufactured by that skilful mechanic, is our 
god. Yet this is not depravity ; it gives us no cause 
for discouragement. 

What is the effect of this utilitarian principle ? 

The first manifestation of the principle of wisdom is 
Use. Through this principle, it is coming to be seen, 
that physical improvement, that organizational reform, 
lies at the very foundation of all spiritual progression. 
Men must be physically well situated, physically de- 
veloped, physically prepared, before they can have an 
infiux of the high, the beautiful, and the good. Use 



33b QUESTIONS ON THE 

hath its every eye fixed upon that which is external, 
fundamental, elemental. Spiritualism has come, as a 
kind of side inspiration, to augment mechanical con- 
structions; to improve man's physical circumstances; 
to give men leisure for spiritual growth. The gospel 
of Use is the doctrine of weighing, measuring, gauging. 
It is a development which will come, eventually, to 
every man ; telling him whether he is a disciple of the 
past, of the present, or of the future ; telling him that 
he has been weighed in the balance ; telling him that 
his ideas have been gauged ; telling him that his place 
in the universe has already been described. Scientific 
suggestions will be made as to how man shall dispose of 
his ideas and occupations. Utilitarianism will see what 
are the useful, the beautiful, the beneficial. The doc- 
trine of Use will work directly into the vitals of the 
church ; into the vitals of all other departments of 
human life ; into the State ; into the family ; into 
those relations which constitute " Home." No depart- 
ment can shut itself against the onward march of this 
principle of investigation. 

What is the most prominent feature on the face of this century ? 

If you think of Christendom, I reply — Utility. There 
never was a century so utilitarian. Use is the sovereign 
of men and nations. There is now no safety in anything 



EFFECTS OF UTILITARIANISM. 337 

which is not absolutely, and supposed to be immediately, 
practical. People have no time to lose ; the cars are 
just ready to start. Every one is contriving to accom- 
plish a vast deal in little time and less space. Use and 
economy walk hand in hand. The Hue arts are consid- 
erably neglected. 

' ' Now sawmills grate in every forest nook, 
Now spindles huni beside each mountain brook ; 
Through virgin forests locomotives wail, 
And prairie flowers are crushed beneath the rail ; 
Where ocean rolled, so trackless once and free, 
The age of prose stalks forth and maps the sea ; 
And the swift lightning — once celestial fire — 
Does drudgery in harness — on a wire ; 
While patents fill the air, bestride the wave, 
And dog us from the cradle to the grave. 
Machines that rock asleep our infant cry, 
Machines that wait upon our latest sigh ; 
We waft by telegraph our love's young dream, 
Live by machinery, and die by steam." 

But poetry is altogether too impracticable. The Pro- 
methean fire is worthless, to be set aside as a luxury, 
unless it can be made to warm dwellings and feed the 
igneous stomach of an ocean-steamer. Some semi- 
believers think the golden floor of heaven should be 
mined out, and wrought into eagles endowed with wings, 
to keep up the spirit and balance of commerce. Sev- 
eral oriental ideas — of the lake burning with fire and 

brimstone — are repudiated ; as being altogether too cx- 
15 



338 QUESTIONS ON THE 

pensive as well as impracticable. In short, the Anglo- 
Saxon wants nothing which " don't pay." lie studies 
prices ; not pictures : loves policy ; not poetry : wants 
facts ; not fancies. His friendships, and his marriage 
even, are measured by profit and loss. His standard is 
compounded of money, history, fashion, selfishness. He 
is anxious to possess a large share of business gratitude 
and of business friendship ; but any gratitude or any 
friendship outside of business relations, is wholly useless 
— " It don't pay " — it is too poetic and sentimental. 

Is not such utilitarian selfishness deplorable ? 

Yes ; it is a great grief that the money -grasping pro- 
pensities of the Anglo-Saxon should so hold in check 
the growth of his higher nature ; counting the emotions 
of his inward spirit as merchandise, to be used as busi- 
ness (and only as business) demands their combined ex- 
ercise. The motto of the age is — " Go ahead." " It 
don't pay" to linger in the rear; to be outdone by your 
neighbor. If you manufacture any useful commodity, 
let no man excel you ; not even do as well ; for your 
customers will leave you and seek the other whose goods 
are preferable. 

What is the immediate consequence ? 

The consequence is, the selfish, isolated competition 
of the age is unparalleled. There is an individual race 
for Success ! The most useful, the most economical, 



EFFECTS OF UTILITAEIAMISM. 339 

the most salable article, is the thing which all Chris- 
tendom is striving to obtain, by individual effort ; 
and all advantages surround him who has " the means " 
to his order. There is a wish to invent a " perpetual 
motion " which shall be self -feeding, self -regulating, 
generous-hearted enough to furnish itself with all requi- 
site motive power, and to perform the extra work men 
may desire. But inasmuch as the universe is as yet the 
only perpetual motion,- and the only one possible to ex- 
ist, I think nearly all dreaming and toil on this scheme 
will prove unprofitable. And yet every effort at inven- 
tion is useful, because — 

" This is true — that you can never 
Seek to know, and fail in finding ; 
Seek an End, and it will ever 
Grow more near, and be less blinding." 

But will there no good come out of utilitarianism ? 

Yes ; because, although it is true that the utilitarian 
tendency of the age leads unfortunately to the degrada- 
tion, temporarily, of many of the best impulses of our 
common nature, yet will there surely grow of it a class 
of circumstances exceedingly beneficial to the lower 
and middle portions of society. 

Can you explain how such ' ' good " will come ? 

I will try. The motto of all go-ahead men is — 
" Multum in parvo " — or, much in little. The law is, 



340 QUESTIONS ON THE 

use with economy. With such an impulse, and with 
such a law, I think it is not difficult to anticipate a va- 
riety of permanent blessings. For instance : the ener- 
getic men of this century, Laving assumed great and 
numerous mercantile responsibilities, requiring constant 
vigilance and extraordinary despatch, must have re- 
course to more economical systems of spelling and 
writing the English language. It costs too much time 
to learn at school the system now so popular ; it takes 
too much labor to write a long explanatory business 
letter under the present plan. Consequently, " it don't 
pay." This is a sufficient discovery! The next step, 
therefore, will be a prospective reformation in the art 
of spelling and writing. There will be a general ortho- 
graphic, chirographic, and phonographic reform ; mak- 
ing it far easier to communicate thought, take less time, 
and with greater perfection, than can be attained under 
the popular system. 

"I have just received," says Rev. D. D. Wheedon, of 
Long Island, " from a friend in Cincinnati, a mysterious 
epistle, which may form a small text for a large dis- 
course. It is a letter of so tiny a magnitude that the 
full sheet, single fold, is not larger than the envelop 
which enshrines it. Its weird and winding chirography 
looks like an Arabian spell, and its dainty dimensions 
might make you think it a missive from the king of the 



EFFECTS OF UTILITARIANISM. 341 

dwarfs. Yet brief as is its apparent length, and written, 
as it was, with a telegraphic rapidity, it really embraces 
as much matter as an ordinary well-filled sheet of note- 
paper. I read [rid] with the ease of fairly- written text, 
and feel a sort of gratified sense of power in the fact 
that the same feat of compressed performance is ac- 
complished in written correspondence, that M'Cormick's 
reaper wins in the harvest, or the steam locomotive in 
our travel. Those cabalistic stringlets on that diamond 
little page, my fair friend, is Phonography ; and you 
and Phonography ought to be better acquainted." 

" Our living flocks of thought," says Henry Sutton, 
"need no longer trudge it slowly and wearily down the 
pen and along the paper, hindering each other, as they 
struggle through the strait gate of the old handwriting ; 
our troops of feelings need no more crawl, as snails 
crawl, to their station on the page; regiment after 
regiment may now trot briskly forward, to fill para- 
graph after paragraph ; and writing, once a trouble, 
is now at breathing ease. Our kind and loving 
thoughts, warm and transparent, liquid as melted 
from the hot heart, shall no longer grow opaque, and 
freeze with a tedious dribbling from the pen, but the 
whole soul may now pour itself forth in a sweet shower 
of words. Phonotypy and Phonography will be of use 
in the world not dreamed of but by few. Ay, and shake 



342 QUESTIONS ON THE 

your heads as ye will, tliey will uproot the old spelling ; 
they will yet triumph over the absurdities of the dead 
age." 

What shall be done to annihilate the distance between the Produ- 
cer and the Consumer ? * 

Iii the midst of utilitarian developments, I think 
there stands a relic of feudal times, which needs the 
genius of Use and Economy applied to it. Time and 
space, in commerce, have been comparatively destroyed 
by steam and lightning. The road to prosperity, or to 
bankruptcy, is shortened by countless business facilities. 
]STo man need spend more than^i^ minutes of his valu- 
able time to calculate the number of miles between any 
two cities, countries, or continents. The " Traveller's 
Guide " tells him the whole for a shilling, even to all 
the dollars and cents the journey will cost, together with 
the hours and minutes necessary to its accomplishment. 
If he can't spare the time to go, then he can command 
the nation to convey his letter thither ; or send the fleet 
lightning instead, to make an apology and do the busi- 
ness. 

Intelligence is not confined to particular localities. 
Telegraphic wires stretch along the principal roads, and 
sketch the world's news upon your breakfast-table. 
The locomotive's whistle may be heard from every hill. 
The morning paper, fed by the intelligence of the coun- 






EFFECTS OF UTILITAEIANISM. 343 

try, informs the whole family of everything incidental, 
literary, or commercial, which has transpired in any 
portion of the preceding twenty-four hours. The road 
to learning is not royal, yet it is difficult to remain ig- 
norant. " It don't pay." Each and everything is 
" done up " with railroad speed — even to jumping the 
yawning chasm of a draw-bridge, shattering cars and 
passengers into shapeless fragments. The speed, and 
excitement, and feverishness, and chicanery, of mer- 
cantile and commercial avocations, are^ equalled by 
nothing outside the brazen gates that close upon the 
dungeons of perdition. Meanwhile, let us inquire : 

What progress has society made toward the abolition of the an- 
tagonisms between the interests of producers and consumers ? 

I have space allotted only to brief answers. The 
world would do well to read Charles Knight's recent 
"View of the Productive Forces of Modern Society, 
and the Results of Labor, Capital, and Skill." Work- 
ing-men and working-women are the most afflicted 
portion of our race. They work, for the most part, 
under the most depressing circumstances. They live 
and have their being at a great disadvantage. Unless 
capricious Fortune seems to smile especially upon their 
efforts, laboring people, in the present social disorder, 
are most likely to be kept down in the cess-pools of 
poverty, simply by the antagonism between labor and 






344 QUESTIONS ON THE 

capital. He who, by industry and personal integrity, 
has rescued his family from ignorance, wretchedness, 
and crime, deserves the gratitude of all his fellow-men ; 
because, under the antagonistic interests of our present 
social construction, it is unspeakably difficult for a 
laboring man to earn enough to meet the current ex- 
penses of his family, and at the same time avoid debt 
and dishonesty. If he does this in cities, he must 
forego almost every species of comforting luxury, and 
all cultivated amusements. 

What are the poor man's disadvantages ? 

His disadvantages are very numerous. If he be a 
mechanic, then there are, probably, certain months in 
each year when his services are not required. But his 
house-rent and family expenses go on just the same as 
when his labor is in demand. The wealthy man can 
pay cash for his dry -goods and groceries, can purchase 
them at wholesale prices, which gives him the advan- 
tage. But the poor man must buy in small quantities, 
must pay high interest for credit, and so lives at a per- 
petual loss. When he goes to the jnarket, he pays the 
butchers and stall-keepers 50 per cent, more than the 
original cost of the articles. When he goes to the gro- 
cer, he must defray the accumulated and combined 
profits upon tea, sugar, soap, molasses, etc. : first, of the 



EFFECTS OF UTILITARIANISM. 345 

producer ; second, of the wholesale merchant ; third, of 
the retailer. Here is a mass of profits which the consumer 
must pay, and he must work hard, and live very eco- 
nomically to do it. Again, when he wants muslin, cloth, 
and calico, for his family, he must pay sufficient, over 
and above the actual cost and value of these fabrics orig- 
inally, to support the manufacturer, the various second - 
handers and wholesale go-betweens, and lastly, the mer- 
chant of whom the goods are purchased. Now this is 
all wrong ; it don't pay. The laboring-classes — who 
produce all the wealth there is in the country — are the 
constant and only real sufferers under this system. 
What is a prominent injustice of this system ? 

While the manufacturer, the wholesale merchant, 
and the flourishing retailer, can live in fifty-thousand- 
dollar houses, environed with all the comforts and priv- 
ileges thereof, the poor, hard-working man and woman, 
with a large family of children to feed, and clothe, 
and educate, are compelled to occupy uncomfortable 
rooms (for which they pay a high rent), and toil per- 
petually on, ofttim.es without the least glimmering of a 
hope that their circumstances will ever improve. Again 
we ask — 

Y/hat shall be done to annihilate the distance between Labor and 
Capital — between Producer and Consumer ? 

I might give you my reply to this question ; but you 
15* 



346 QUESTIONS ON THE 

should find the true answer by reflection. All the mul- 
titudinous complications of the mercantile world must 
be supported. Between the Producer and the Con- 
sumer there now exist, in all kinds of industry, numer- 
ous intermediates. These produce nothing. They add 
nothing valuable to the world. They serve as specula- 
ting go-betweens. But they must all be fed, clothed, 
and enriched ; and the laboring-classes must do it all. 
These must support all non-producers. But how ? By 
direct taxation ? No. How otherwise ? In this way : 
Producers support non-producers by paying higher 
prices for everything they purchase, and by paying 
rents to landlords, who out of it pay the taxes. This 
popular speculating, this fashionable subsisting upon 
the labor of the servants of Poverty, is becoming well- 
nigh intolerable. The homage that Capital requires of 
Labor is beginning to be insupportable and detestable. 
Industrial communities are seeking the remedy. Some 
efficient plan must soon be instituted to relieve the poor 
man from his manifold oppressive disadvantages — to 
give him a fair and equal chance to enjoy his existence 
— to emancipate him from the mountainous interests 
and antagonisms that now oppress and keep him in 
bondage to Poverty — or, we shall experience rebellions, 
and turmoils, and revolutions, in our social and judicial 



EFFECTS OF UTILITARIANISM. 347 

departments, which neither riches nor eloquence can 
prevent or allay ? 

Is American Slavery sanctioned by the American Priesthood ? 

Yes ; there is a cotton-thread, extending from Maine 
to Louisiana, which, being more profoundly revered 
than the principle of Justice, is allowed to hold together 
the United States and the United Churches. Among 
Churches I know of some glorious exceptions. In busi- 
ness the agitation of the Slavery question " don't pay ; " 
so the Churches furnish a " Thus saith the Lord " in 
favor of the institution. Hundreds of laymen have 
most nobly withdrawn from the Churches solely on this 
account. And now, when the clergy begin to make the 
discovery that such seceding from sectarianism " don't 
pay" — that it sets a bad example to godless persons 
who have never joined it — they begin very compla- 
cently to preach its " ultimate extinction," that Slavery 
will finally die out, and say " the genius of Christianity 
does not warrant its perpetuation." And so it is, in this 
as in everything else, the human mind — the people — 
outgrow certain discords and errors, and first remon- 
strate against them from the rostrum and the press, and 
make new discoveries, labor to spread comfort and civ- 
ilization around, and, by persistent inquiry and invin- 
cible energy, finally succeed in converting an ignorant 
priesthood to the measures of practical reform. 



348 QUESTIONS ON THE 

Do you mean to affirm that the Priesthood is intentionally utilita- 
rian in its opposition ? 

Yes ; printing, for example, the chief agent and angel 
of civilization, was opposed. Why % Because it would 
enlighten the people on ecclesiastical matters. This 
would interfere with the monopoly of the priesthood. 
The people, who, they say, have no rights, would begin 
to discuss the merits of the so-called infallible dogmas. 
So the glorious art of Printing was once denounced as 
an invention of the devil. But these blessings are now 
enjoyed equally by saint and sinner ; in spite of all big- 
otry and venerable superstition. The present race of 
clergymen would laugh, should it be seriously urged 
that printing and the sciences were projections from the 
devil. But they are far from being healed of the old 
malady. In our very midst, they raise the cry of " Infi- 
delity and demonism," at every fresh revealment. 
Every new revelation is from the devil. Why? Be- 
cause " it don't pay ; " and, merchant-like, they repel it. 
But, thank God ! there are always outcasts and anathe- 
matized persons who will entertain the "stranger" — 
the new-comer — and when the new thing proves itself 
to be an angel, and becomes popular and pays well, 
then the Church throws wide open its doors, invites it to 
a cushioned seat in the synagogue, and proclaims it 
" ours " — a blessing " brought by Christianity "—while, 



EFFECTS OF UTILITARIANISM. 349 

in truth, the blessing came of human progress, forcing its 
way through every species of ignorance and aristocratic 
bigotry. 

Does utilitarianism look into prisons and criminals ? 

Yes ; the people, especially those who have thought 
on the subject, begin to discover this important fact — ■ 
that prisons and capital punishments are exceedingly de- 
fective methods of defending the morals and protecting 
the interests of society. This is a business age. Every- 
thing must be looked at and judged by the mercantile 
standard of "profit and loss." And there are things 
which do, and things which do not, pay. Among others, 
it is beginning to be seen that the money which is now 
expended to arrest, to condemn, to imprison, and to pun- 
ish, a single criminal, is sufficient, when judiciously and 
at the right time appropriated, to educate twenty poor 
children, and to place them in circumstances above the 
sphere of temptation to crime. It will " cost " far less 
to save fifty human beings from crime than it now costs 
to punish ten without improving them. But let me 
ask : 

Does the Church propose any reformation in this direction ? 

Not at all. It will oppose the measure until opposi- 
tion no longer pays. When the people announce their 
determination to carry through this reform — then, as 
they always have, the sponsors of theology will jump 



350 QUESTIONS ON THE 

upon the platform, and exclaim, " Oh, we always thought 



so 



/» 



Will you specify some of the material improvements of utilitarian- 
ism? 

Yes ; the first material improvement, which I have 
carefully contemplated, will pertain to the atmosphere. 
Several mediums have foreshadowed this fact. Through 
the semi-satisfactory developments of John M. Spear, of 
Boston, men have heard of " electricizers " and " mag- 
netizers " — names of a class of sentimental and semi- 
practical spirits, anxious to bring about physical im- 
provements, as stepping-stones to mankind's spiritual 
advancement. Atmospheric improvements will come 
within the area and dominion of man's inventions. A 
harmonious relation between the planet and the sun will 
not accomplish it. Climatological reforms will be 
brought about by human investigations and systematic 
industry. The investigations of Humboldt and those of 
Lieutenant Maury are helps, whereby many shipmasters 
have been enabled to navigate the sea with unusual 
safety. Certain currents of wind may be anticipated. 
These researches show that the atmospliere is regulated 
by certain fixed laws, which, when understood, come 
within man's immediate use. Meriam, on the heights 
of Brooklyn, is calculating the circles of cold and heat. 
He is showing that the changes of the atmosphere may 



EFFECTS OF UTILITARIANISM. 351 

be calculated, as eclipses are ; and mapped out, as men 
put down the weeks and months of the year. The dif- 
ferent aerial phenomena are to be classified under fixed 
Laws. Through the instrumentality of machinery, man 
Avill control aerial currents, and produce that state of 
climate and temperature which will augment the soil's 
productiveness. By arrangements of electricity and 
magnetism, he may prevent extreme heat or cold ; also, 
droughts and disastrous storms. Man's pow T er is limited 
by nothing save infinity and omnipotence. If man can 
comprehend the laws of the atmosphere, his knowledge 
foreshadows the ability to control their phenomena. 
Laws which govern the propagation and existence of 
human beings, once enveloped in mystery, are now 
within man's control. Having ascertained these laws, 
the children of men will soon improve before as well as 
after birth, and will feel themselves one day but u little 
lower than the angels." 

Will the principle of Use bring- agricultural improvements ? 

Yes ; progress in agriculture will come upon the 
world. But too many agriculturists, like men in the 
churches, have worn the thinking-caps of their forefa- 
thers. However, as such minds increase in spiritual 
knowledge, there will be agricultural improvements. 
Farmers will be able to double, treble, and quadruple 
the crops of their fields ; and, by machinery, to store up 



352 QUESTIONS ON THE 

every season two or three times the quantity they now 
do, and with much less trouble to either head or hand. 
Justin proportion as population increases the demand 
for food, so will there be an increase of machinery to 
do the labor of the hands : giving the head leisure to 
make more progress in spiritual and higher depart- 
ments. The Anglo-Saxon is certain to make his head 
save his hands ; he will combine both, to save the heart. 
The expansion and distribution of benefits, growing out 
of agricultural reforms, will be commensurate with the 
increase of population. At the present rate of increase, 
without the discount of war and epidemics, there will 
be nearly a hundred millions of people in the United 
States fifty years hence, and possibly eleven millions of 
slaves ! Therefore, in the year 1900 there will be a 
greater demand upon the soil and sea. But I think that 
improvements in agriculture will be numerous and ab- 
solute : and all people will surely have an abundance. 
Although there will then be three times the present 
number of individuals, yet methinks each will have 
more leisure to improve, and hold intercourse with the 
spiritual. 

What effect will such farm- work exert upon the merchant ? 

Machinery will increase the value of farms so much, 
and the use of magnetism in combination with electric- 



EFFECTS OF UTTLITAEIANISM. 353 

ity will so beautify and multiply the crops, that farming 
will be considered more popular and profitable than 
storekeeping. Men of youth and means will associate 
and form vast farming and industrial monopolies. And 
were it not for the distribution of property, the result of 
our limitation laws, we should have the old feudal system 
temporarily established in the United States. Little, 
sellish farmers, unable to compete, would be swallowed 
by the great ones ; farming associations would multiph^, 
and become popular ; but the results would be every 
way beneficial to mechanics and the skilful professions. 
Such improvements will exert an effect upon the inhabi- 
tants of cities; to draw them out into the far-off countries. 
• 

People now rushing from the country to the city will 
then be drawn back into farming districts ; and cities, as 
now existing, shall be changed. There will be more 
Brotherhood — better opportunities for enjoyment — such 
as now exist upon Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. 

Will there be still greater utilitarian improvements in factories ? 

Yes ; in the year 1808, the first piece of broadcloth 
was made in the United States, by Arthur Scofield.* 

* The following advertisement appeared in the Pittsneld "Sun/' 
November 2, 1800 : 

' ' Arthur Scofield respectfully informs the inhabitants of Pitts- 
field and vicinity that he has a Carding-Machine, half a mile west of 
the meeting-house, where they may have their wool carded into rolls 
for 12jV cts. per pound ; mixed, 15} cts. per pound. If they find the 



354: QUESTIONS ON THE 

lie was from Berkshire, Massachusetts. lie presented, 
I think, his first piece of broadcloth to James Madison, 
who was the first President inaugurated in American 
broadcloth. That was just forty-seven years ago. 
Since that time, observe the increase of woollen-factories. 
T/hat a superabundance of improvements ! Do you not 
behold reasons to believe that improvements will be no 
less active, sure, and progressive, in other departments. 
From the time that Samuel Slater introduced the system 
of carding into this country, to the present, there has 
been a race of inventions and steady progression. This 
increase is in itself a vast and surprising manifestation. 
There are men lying upon their backs, keeping vigils 
all the night long — between sleeping and waking — 
inventing a new factory- wheel, altering the spinning- 
jenny, by which human heads may save human hands, 
and do in a day the work which before required scores 
of men and women. At a glance, you perceive the 
increase of this labor-saving machinery will work no 
injury to the human race. It is the natural result of 
utilitarianism. Machines will furnish you with clothing ; 
will labor, and lay at your feet all you need ; will pre- 

grease, and pick and grease it, it will be 10 cts. per pound, and 12} 
for nised. They are requested to send their wool in sheets, as it 
will serve to bind up the rolls when done. Also, a small assortment 
of woollens for sale. Pittsfield, Nov. 2, 1800." 



EFFECTS OF UTILITARIANISM. 355 

pare your food ; and, sometimes, they may do your 
eating. 

Will there be any improvement in materials for garments ? 

Yes ; flax and the cotton-plant already furnish much. 
Bat there are other herbs, in the forests of North 
America, which, when cultivated by machines invented 
for the purpose, will render considerable slave-work 
unprofitable. These plants of North America — to be 
found in Pennsylvania and in the State of Maine — will 
be cultivated to some extent, and men will be using new 
materials for garments. Great trees will be wrought up 
into beautiful fabrics ! Scientific discovery is on the 
increase ; she will invoke all Nature. Everything of^ 
which she asks a question gives back a satisfactory reply. 
She will ask herbs, and grass, and trees, " Can you not 
give us raiment ? " and she will receive an answer, and 
human society will also find a response in clothing equal 
to anything now procured from the sheep's back, or 
from the cotton-fields of the South. For Science is the 
doctrine of Use — of Perception, Calculation, Construc- 
tiveness, and Ideality. There will be so much ease in 
acquiring a beautiful dress, that a poor family may, by 
ten days' labor, obtain clothing enough to last through a 
whole year. 

Will utilitarianism bring a reform in the locomotive world ? 

Yes ; there is to be great improvement in motive- 



356 QUESTIONS ON THE 

forces ; also a method for travelling upon dry land and 
through the air. There are persons mentally capable of 
receiving inspiration npon this subject from the Spirit- 
ual world. Such inspiration will bring a new motive 
force / by which talented minds may increase the speed 
of travel and the safety thereof. Cars may be con- 
structed so that no accident, not even a collision, would 
be dangerous to either passengers or baggage. AVe shall 
have new and more commodious methods of construct- 
ing railroad-cars, as soon as the mass of working-travel- 
lers can afford to pay for luxuries. The most useful will 
become the most agreeable. Every person now wishes 
for as much as possible in little space, even if the con- 
centration is disagreeable. But more thriftiness will 
bring more wealth, this more luxury, and this will widen 
our railroads. Instead of the present gallery-looking 
cars, we will have spacious Saloons, almost portable 
dwellings, moving with such speed, that perhaps there 
will be advertisements, " Through to California in four 
days ! " These hotel-cars will be of beautiful architect- 
ural proportions, two stories high, with state-rooms and 
saloons for converse, plays, parties, balls, and concerts. 
These travelling-establishments will be as wide as modern 
dwelling-houses, and provided with all the most desir- 
able comforts. Railroads must first be straightened 
through the country, and a new motive-power intro- 



EFFECTS OF UTILITARIANISM. 357 

duced. In presence of these beautiful Saloons, it will 
be difficult to get the cows of the year 1900 to take pas- 
sage upon cars which men now consider so excellent, 
utilitarian, and convenient. 

Will utilitarianism make any discoveries in other locomotive direc- 
tions ? 

Yes ; in the almanac language, " look out about these 
days" for carriages and travelling-saloons on country- 
roads — sans horses, sans steam, sans any visible motive- 
power — moving with greater speed and far more safety 
than at present. Carriages will be moved by a strange, 'A' 1 
and beautiful, and simple admixture of aqueous and at- 
mospheric gases — so easily condensed, so simply ignited, 
and so imparted by a machine somewhat resembling our 
engines, as to be entirely concealed and manageable be- 
tween the forward wheels. These vehicles will prevent 
many embarrassments now experienced by persons living 
in thinly-populated territories. The first requisite for 
these land-locomotives will be good roads, upon which, 
with your engine, without your horses, you may travel 
with great rapidity. These carriages seem (to me) of 
uncomplicated construction. We will one day ventilate, 
and light, and spiritualize our dwelling-houses, by a very 
simple admixture of water and atmospheric gases — from 
which combination will also spring the new motive- 
power under present anticipation. 



358 QUESTIONS ON THE 

What progress will men make in atmospheric navigation ? 

I find only one thing necessary in order to Lave aerial 
navigation, viz. : the application of this contemplated 
superior motive-power, which is even now in process of 
discovery and elimination. Deeply impressed am I that 
the necessary mechanism — to transcend the adverse cur- 
rents of air, so that we may sail as easily, and safely, and 
pleasantly, as birds — is dependent upon a new motive- 
power. This power will come. It will not only move 
the locomotive on the rail, and the carriage on the coun- 
try-road, but the aerial cars also, which will move through 
the sky from country to country ; and their beautiful in- 
fluence will produce a universal brotherhood of acquaint- 
ance. Nations await only this : to become closely and 
intimately fraternized. Persons once estranged, when 
br,nffkt in contact, face to face, feel the throbbing of a 
new friendship — or an old pure one awakened — which 
has in itself blessings and promises of brotherhood. 
Apply this fragment of morality to the influence which 
aerial navigation will exert upon the world, and you will 
at once see how vast must be the national benefits grow- 
ing out of such familiarity. There are many inventive 
spirits who, acting upon the willing faculties of John M. 
Spear, gave the world to understand that a new motive- 
power was possible. Any impartial and intelligent per- 
son, who will investigate the lectures which preceded 



EFFECTS OF UTILITARIANISM. 350 

and gave rise to the mechanism at High Hock Tower, 
will be at once surprised at the profundity of the sug- 
gestions, and chagrined not less at the inconsistency of 
the metallic application. There was the obvious mix- 
ture of the divine with the human. Divine principles 
can scarcely descend into the strictly human sphere 
without misapprehension. Deep and thorough scientific 
knowledge, spiritually derived, was dissipated by the 
human instruments. The received theory was unique, 
although based upon the human structure ; the absorp- 
tion of electricity from the atmosphere, and the incor- 
poration of that subtile element, by the polar organiza- 
tion of a metallic Idol. Inventive Spirits had their 
minds earnestly at work to develop a new motive-force ; 
and the principles divulged, although so sadly misapplied 
in the first experiment, foreshadowed the great era of 
utilitarian discovery. 

What effect will the fanning associations exert upon producer and 
consumer V 

These combinations will make a vast alteration in 
our mercantile arrangement, so that the difference now 
existing between producer and consumer will be well- 
nigh annihilated. There is, I repeat, altogether too 
great a distance between them, too many go-betweens, 
and too much expensive clerical manipulation. There 
will be agricultural and industrial combinations. They 



3 GO QUESTIONS ON THE 

will have large common storehouses for certain wards. 
The fraternal principle will come into action ; and har- 
mony will be the manifestation of utilitarianism. ~We 
shall have fraternal combinations in villages and cities. 
These will remove the unnecessary expenses now incur- 
red by poor families ; giving them more leisure for the 
development of spiritual faculties, and for the enjoyment 
of spiritual joys. 

Will utilitarianism do something to harmonize manual labor and 
machinery ? 

Yes; this is another thing in the Structure of Society 
which needs attention and improvement — the conflict 
between poor men and labor-saving inventions. It 
don't pay the laboring man to see a few bars of 
iron and shafts of steel, moved by unconscious steam, 
doing more and better work in one day than he can 
do in twenty ! All our manufacturers must resort to 
Machinery. This is right, and I glory in every new 
invention. But I think a change is necessary, so that 
every new labor-saving invention shall not fall into the 
hands of Manufacturers, and every laboring man be 
driven into new fields for subsistence, in absolute com- 
petition with Machinery. As Society is now con- 
structed, there is no harmony between the poor classes 
and labor-saving Machinery. This fact will lead here- 
after to great changes. While the conflict continues be- 






EFFECTS OF UTILITARIANISM. 361 

tween human beings and the invention of machines for 
the manufacturing of certain kinds of goods — while there 
continues an antagonism between Labor and Capital — so 
long will the preaching of "peace and good-will on 
earth" be measurably useless. To love the neighbor, 
under present arrangements, don't pay. To be a prac- 
tical Christian is to be unpopular. An honest man must 
leave the business world, in some departments, or the busi- 
ness world will leave him. In the present structure of 
Society, in the midst of selfishness, it is absurd to expect 
a manifestation of true religion. Loving your neighbor 
as you love yourself is now little else but a sacred 
poem — so revered, that we pay gentlemen to preach it — 
" but it don't pay " to attempt to live to its requirements. 
Not long since a man was being tried, on the charge of 
insanity, in the city of Hartford. When he was asked 
to make his own statement, he began by saying that 
" he was a follower of Jesus Christ." He went on with 
the rest of his story very rationally ; and it was after- 
wards remarked that everything he said was sane, except 
his introduction. 

Can we expect good to result from a well-defined Social Science ? 

Yes ; Social Science will exert that effect between 
consumer and producer which the inventions of Electri- 
cal Science have already had between cities and conti- 
nents — namely, the destruction of distance, estrangc- 
1G 



362 QUESTIONS ON THE 

ment, and isolation. Telegraphing is so complete in its 
operations, that the yesterday's news of a whole nation 
may be heralded to your fireside. So, too, the benefits 
of farms and countries will be brought to you scarcely 
without a thought of expense. We shall have somewhat 
to fear from Excess of Luxury. Years hence, look back 
to this hour, contemplate those who are now called popu- 
lar, and you will see that a man is measured by the 
length of his purse ! One day, however, material 
wealth will not be fashionable ; but, instead, he will be 
most popular who is fraternal and harmonious. The 
tendency of the utilitarian element is to teach man's 
perceptive faculties the use of implements and instru- 
ments, the use of tools, by which all material depart- 
ments of Nature and Society are to be subdued, and 
brought into systematic harmony with man's immediate 
spiritual advancement. The head is working to save 
the hands, and both to save the heart. The consequence 
will be— harmony of hands, head, and heart, with the 
Spiritual World. Let men put confidence in this doctrine 
of invention, of progress in the material world, as the first 
and lowest necessity. Look through the United States, 
and see shafts of inspiring light let down into minds 
dwelling in obscure places! The world cannot know 
of the results just now. Unconsciously there are per- 
sons absorbing light from the Spiritual World. These 



EFFECTS OF UTILITAEIANISM. 6b 6 

may invent a machine for reaping, for sowing, for liar- 
vesting, and for thrashing, the grains ; they may per- 
ceive improvements for the advancement of commerce-; 
or may see a new method for the lighting, heating, ven- 
tilating, and spiritualizing human habitations ! Never 
was there a period when all the faculties circumjacent 
to the front and superior brains were in such a state of 
utilitarian activity and corresponding inspiration. The 
eventual result will be — leisure throughout America, 
and the development of those intuitive faculties in 
man which are now supposed to be merely possibilities. 

Do you see any improvements in human habitations ? 

Yes; the ideas of the Middle Ages, and those of the 
Nineteenth Century, are to be united in our architecture. 
T> well ini* -houses of the future will be built in reference 
to the symmetrical development of their inmates. It is 
not Utopian to expect this. Men will find that the cot- 
tage, the palace, the castle, and several of the intermedi- 
ate styles, will one clay be accumulated into the Humani- 
tarian Edifices. These magnificent edifices will cost far 
less than so many independent, selfish homes. One of 
these edificial hotels will cost no more than a modern 
dwelling, w^hile it will be incomparably more beautiful, 
and not less calculated to improve both the physical 
character and the spiritual faculties. Personal character 
is benefited, or impaired temporarily, according to the 

^ „ 



364 QUESTIONS ON THE 

shape of its accustomed habitation. Place a strong- 
minded man in a perfectly circular room, where the eye 
Can fix itself upon not a single angle, and two weeks will 
be sufficient time to produce the madness of insanity. 
The first effect would be a sort of agonized bewilder- 
ment, which would quickly superinduce a savage aber- 
ration. Pause, then, and meditate upon the marvellous 
psychological influence of external structures. 

Do ycu expect other utilitarian improvements to precede these re- 
form habitations? 

Yes ; subsequent to the improvements of controlling 
air and culturing soil, it will be more easy to build a 
brace of these combined unitary Edifices, for sixty fami- 
lies, than three of the fashionable domicils of country- 
towns and cities. It will be a great proud beauty to 
have such establishments heated and lighted by an ad- 
mixture of aqueous and atmospheric gases — the garncTf 
utilitarian admixture which will produce the motive 
power of land-carriages, railroad vehicles, and aerial 
ships. How beautiful to have such concentration ! Men 
will unite in fraternal embrace and build temples of 
harmony upon which their children can ascend to physi- 
cal strength and spiritual contemplation. No, it is no 
dream ! I do not describe the millennium ! All this is 
no more wonderful than improvements in cotton and 
woollen factories since the year 180S. In the represent- 



EFFECTS OF UTILITAEIAOTSM. 365 

ations of the Future will be represented the structural 
arrangements and architectural analogies furnished by 
the body and soul — a sort of correspondential edificial- 
ism, so to speak, cellar-rooms, nutritive departments, 
social saloons, educational cabinets, spiritual recesses, 
harmonious dormitories, and pavilions for contemplation, 
each in correspondence with intestines, with digestive 
functions, with affectional departments, with perceptive 
organs, with spiritual functions, and with the intellect- 
ual faculties — each and all parts of an Edifice being 
represented in the physical and mental organization of 
a human being. 

"Will the building materials of the future differ from those in pres- 
ent use ? 

Yes; we will not go as at present into forests to find 
the best materials. Humanitarian habitations will be 
constructed of a lithologic composition which may be 
readily manufactured. And men will perceive new 
uses for gutta-percha in combination with iron and arti- 
ficial marble. Such materials will be employed for port- 
able dwellings. For example: here arc two persons to 
be married this very night, upon the best principles of 
conjugal harmony. To-morrow morning they will visit 
places where portable houses may be ordered ; they 
look over the architectural fashions ; they issue an order 
for a house to be built in the country : everything to be 



36G QUESTIONS ON THE 

ready for housekeeping, furniture and all arranged, in 
two weeks from date ! Remember the first manifesta- 
tion of the principle of wisdom, in Use. Use condenses 
and harmonizes, so that, ultimately, the fortunes and 
misfortunes of modern selfish house-building will be no 
more. Most easy will it be to have a home ! Mankind 
may one day see that a habitation, composed of artificial 
lithologic materials, will shelter but a small part of that 
which in reality constitutes " a home." Because the 
true home is composed of, and is dependent upon, the 
existence and the continuation of a most blessed har- 
monial marriage. Having "one to love and one to love 
us" is a haven far better than a house composed of 
gutta-percha, iron, or any artificial substance. 

May we expect a more -utilitarian method of acquiring knowledge ? 

Yes; we are not always to have this tedious method 
of learning to spell and write the English language ; 
this external system of imparting and enforcing the 
shadows of ideas. Many constitutions are " ruined " bj T 
the different irksome and unnatural methods of impart- 
ing what is called an education. If the United States 
Constitution had not been stronger than that of many 
Yankee children now born, it would have been (; ruined" 
the first two weeks by the tyrannical plan of its eccle- 
siastical and political schooling. Improvements in edu- 






EFFECTS OF TTTILITAKIANISM. 367 

cation will be so great that between the ninth and twelfth 
year — the ninth being the true time for children to 
commence — young minds will obtain more knowledge 
than they now acquire with much trouble between the 
ninth and twentieth. Yes, there will be a beautiful 
reform in the whole present barbarous system, of think- 
ing and acquiring thoughts. We have a Ilarmonial 
Philosophy to teach : that ideas are not to be put into 
the mind, but elicited ; that the divine character is to 
be progressively carved out of that which we find con- 
stitutionally within the unfolding child. "Wisdom is 
not. to be superinduced, but developed ; and the educa- 
tional systems of the humanitarian Future will have 
this object to accomplish. Improvement must begin in 
our alphabet ; next in our orthography ; then in our 
chirography; then in our phraseology; and lastly, in 
some parts of our theology. Phonography has discov- 
ered how many elemental sounds there are, and has 
made an appropriation of a letter to every such sound. 
This utilitarian plan will lead to easy spelling ; to the 
most spontaneous and inevitable spelling ; and, finally, 
also to the most natural scheme of penmanship. All 
this will be easier and better and every way more har- 
monious — entirely abolishing the present discordant 
system of fretting and storming, which is the usual 



368 QUESTIONS ON THE 

concomitant of the little arbitrary learning men acquire 
between babyhood and their twentieth year. 

Will you detail some of the utilitarian advantages of the phonetic 
system ? 

Yes; there are (as given in a Synopsis by Andrew 
J. Graham*) eleven specific advantages : 

1. Phonetic Spelling will render reading easy. The 
art of reading with a phonetic orthography can be 
acquired in about forty hours. 

2. It will render spelling easy. 

3. It enables a student, as soon as he has learned the 
Phonetic Alphabet thoroughly, to spell any word with 
the same accuracy that he can pronounce it. 

4. It enables the student, as soon as he has learned 
the Phonetic Alphabet thoroughly, to give any printed 
word the precise pronunciation of the author. 

5. It will consequently tend to remove the present 
ignorance by opening a ready means for acquiring 
knowledge ; and millions now unable to read may 

* Andrew J. Graham has recently opened a Phonetic Academy at 
the office of " The Working Farmer," in Fulton street, New York. 
This individual is a thorough and Cosmopolitan Reformer, in the 
phonetic department of utilitarian progress. He works sincerely for 
the elevation of his important science, and, so far as possible, has 
simplified and universalized the phonetic orthography. His exem- 
plary devotion and industry, and his skilfulness in following the most 
rapid speaker as reporter, will not go unrewarded. 



EFFECTS OF TITIUTAKIANISM. 369 

enjoy the benefits flowing from a knowledge of reading 
and writing. 

6. It will render the business of reducing unwritten 
languages to written form, sure and easy. 

7. It will be of essential service to the student of lan- 
guages, in showing him the exact state of a language at 
a given time. 

8. It will tend most effectually to the general diffu- 
sion of our language among foreigners, and may com- 
plete the numerous claims which our idiom can already 
advance, to be used as a universal medium of communi- 
cation between nation and nation. 

0. It will save much of that time, money, and labor, 
now lost in merely learning to read and write. The 
school-days of the child will be virtually lengthened by 
it, and the sphere of his studies enlarged ; the teacher 
will be saved, from a vast amount of drudgery, and his 
profession ennobled. 

10. It will result in perfect uniformity of pronuncia- 
tion. 

11. It will save millions of dollars in the expense of 
books, etc., annually.* 



* " The present writer is prepared with facts by which he could 

verify the following position : that if a child were taught at first on 

the phonetic principle, and by graduated lessons brought up to a 

comprehension of the present orthography, his reading would be 

1G* 



370 QUESTIONS ON TD.E 

Do you perceive any plan by which to expedite the art of writing ? 

Yes ; I am almost moved to invent an automatic psy- 
chographer ; that is, an artificial soul-writer. It may 
be constructed something like a piano ; one brace or 
scale of keys to represent the elementary sounds ; 
another and lower tier, to represent a combination ; 
and still another, for a rapid re-combination ; so that a 
person, instead of playing a piece of music, may touch 
off a sermon or a poem ! Every note, while discoursing 
sweet sounds, may catch the type and put it in its place ; 
so that, instead of going through the inevitable mechan- 
ical drudgery of the superior short and beautiful 
phonetic method, ideas may be printed upon the sur- 
face of paper prepared for publication. There will 
then be but little time necessary, and little physical 
labor required, for a man to tell all he knows, and more 
too ! Men of utilitarian habits will soon have confi- 
dence in this Psychographer ; it is not more surprising 
than daguerrotyping,or photographing, or ambrotyping. 
These are within the domain of utilitarian discoveries 
which will awaken the Psychographer. 

Will all these inventions aid the spiritual development of the race ? 

Yes ; these improvements and discoveries will re- 
taught at half the time, half the trouble— and consequently half the 
risk of having a distaste for learning engendered by the difficulties of 
his first studies — involved in the present system." — [Dr. Latham.] 



EFFECTS OF UTILITARIANISM. 371 

fresh the soul, give it leisure and prepare it for a natu- 
ral voyage to post-mundane climes. A glorious period 
is before mankind. It will be a kind of material 
heaven — a preparation for the Spiritual Harmonium. 
In the principles already divulged, in the progress of 
agricultural knowledge, in the new motive-force, in the 
use of implements, in all the chivalric achievements of 
the Nineteenth Century, you may behold foreshadow- 
ing^ of developments higher and better. By mere an- 
ticipation, we participate in the benefits of an improved 
and happier race. The Spiritual Harmonium is now 
enjoyed by the elder planets, Jupiter and Saturn. 
Their inhabitants, centuries since, passed through what 
we are just beginning to experience. By virtue of ana- 
logical reasoning, you may believe that everything, fore- 
told in the past regarding man's physical and spiritual 
happiness, will be realized. Believe through your intui- 
tive knowledge and radical desires. Fall in love with 
the new dispensation, through Wisdom. Have intelli- 
gent confidence in the advancement of the material 
world. Feel that every science which comes, through 
the industry of the human intellect, is another manifes- 
tation of eternal principles. Shafts of light are being 
let down upon human faculties. The material world is 
awake, utilitarianism is fortunately in the ascendant, 



372 QUESTIONS ON THE 

and the spiritual world makes a correspondential mani- 
festation. 

Will utilitarianism act beneficially upon American government ? 

This question is not easily answered. American pol- 
itics inevitably generate hostile parties. These parties 
do not attempt to disseminate the divine principles 
which underlie and control humanity. Political prin- 
ciples are drawn from the experience of Europe — from 
the experience of Greece and Home — in order to estab- 
lish precedents whereby to legislate for the day, the 
hour, and the circumstance. Political action does not 
spring from the souls of reasonable men and conscien- 
tious women. Once there existed " Scribes and Phari- 
sees : " now, instead, " Whigs and Democrats." Once 
there were " Publicans and Sinners : " now, instead, 
" ^publicans and Know-Nothings." Here is evidence 
of revolution ; perhaps, also, of progress. Politics have 
brought a quartette of parties into the world ; and every 
one is planted upon " the best policies " — not upon 
that which consults the gigantic interests of universal 
mankind. True Religion, Justice, is never once con- 
sulted. It is a primate American doctrine to have no 
religion in existing politics. Hence, the elements of a 
time-fostered despotisrn and atheism are lurking in our 
Pmocracy. 



EFFECTS OF UTILITARIANISM. 373 

Is this temporary despotism wrong ? 

Who will affirm that it is right ? Perhaps it cannot 
be avoided. Perhaps it is consistent with the pro- 
gressive development of mankind, that despotism should 
be asserted with democracy. Can we have them sepa- 
rated ? There seems to be a natural principle which 
determines that absolute freedom and absolute slavery 
shall abound in the same latitude. Despotism is the 
first governmental principle of every nation; but, by 
social development and spiritual progress, the race 
arouses and does battle for equal rights and Liberty. 
Thus, despotism becomes eventually negative / while 
individual freedom and national democracy become 
positive ! The two principles, however, are asserted in 
the same governmental latitude. Therefore, while we 
have the highest liberty, in the United States, we also 
have in them the lowest slavery. The greatest successes 
run parallel with the greatest reverses. The most 
splendid days are coupled with the darkest nights. 
There is no sudden way to escape this twofold action of 
Nature. 

Do you mean to teach that the conservative principle is just as 
utilitarian as the progressive principle ? 

Yes ; it was one day discovered, by scientific railroad- 
builders, that the troublesome law of friction is the 
very best friend of safety and locomotion. Friction 



374 QUESTIONS ON THE 

renders motion possible. So, too, were it not for this 
principle of conservatism, we should not have that on 
which to adhere, over which to pass, and in consequence 
of which to triumph ! We should not, therefore, be 
merely oppositional reformers. We will achieve much 
Freedom by virtue of the opposition set up by the 
despotic principles of Slavery. 

You said that religion is divorced, in this country, from politics : 
what do you mean ? 

I mean that the natural principle of universal Justice 
is not to be found in our governmental departments. 
Pure morality in politics would be like a star, ascending 
higher in the firmament of Nations. The Roman 
Catholic Church hath a stronghold in criticising Ameri- 
can political institutions. Political parties do not con- 
sult the constitution of man, but the constitution of the 
United States. Party politics have, therefore, a princi- 
ple of atheism. The people of the United States, in 
their political arrangements, do not enough contemplate 
distributive Justice. The Catholic Church stands as a 
sceptical critic. It is supported by talented men, true 
to their principles. They feel called in conscience to 
oppose all Constitutions which do not look to a super- 
natural source for political and ecclesiastical arrange- 
ments. While we preach and proclaim Libert} T , we 
practise and sustain Slavery. Unless our politics 



EFFECTS OF UTILITARIANISM. 375 

become founded in true religion — in a system which 
is indorsed by the Constitution of Nature — there is 
nothing to counteract the influence of the criticisms 
emanating from the Icomish Church. " Your govern- 
mcnt is godless," they say ; " you do not consult the 
spiritual." "We are not enough utilitarian to consult the 
Most High in Man, nor yet the Most High in the Spirit- 
ual Universe. 

What do you consider the principal enemies to America's perpetuity ? 

American dangers are twofold : one is the spirit of 
Slavery ; the other is the spirit of War. War and 
Slavery arc advocated by the American people ; the 
primary rocks these on which our ship is most likely to 
be stranded. Now we are sailing directly between 
them — the spirit of war or retaliation on one side, and 
the spirit of slavery or despotism on the other; but 
there are good and healthy minds in the United States 
who have no sympathy with either. Few persons have 
attained that royal, spiritual summit from which they 
can perceive that universal Peace is the only doctrine ) 
of safety on the one hand, and that unconditional f 
Freedom is the only doctrine of safety on the otherj 
Few can see this, and a less number dare to affirm it 
openly. We have reason to believe that the influence 
of the Spirit-Land will be felt by the American people; 
and that, by virtue of much inspiration, they will judge 



376 QUESTIONS ON THE 

statutes and institutions in the light of human nature ! 
Not the perpetuity of the American nation merely, but 
that of all nations, is to be considered in the light of 
Father-God and Mother-Nature. Better conceptions of 
Father-God will bring us a higher system of government. 
Not to advance ourselves as a selfish nation, but to give 
an example of strength and righteousness to all people. 
We are not to consider ourselves a nation of superior 
military strength, born to*.achieve triumphs, and gain 
laurels on the field of blood — to drive all opposing 
nations away, as the Red Man from his native forests. 
No ! If we desire to perpetuate our nation, we must 
go on in a different spirit. These political rulers must 
be interiorly opened and expanded, so that they ma} 7 be 
recipients of better and higher inspirations. There is 
something else in this universe to appeal to besides the 
utilitarian affections of merchants and commercialists. 
But the utilitarian element is furtively working good in 
this department ; and we may begin to expect that the 
politics of the United States will manifest, ere long, 
something of the principle of universal religion. The 
hidden spirit of War and the open spirit of Slavery, are 
the two dangers which menace our nation's perpetuity. 
Nothing will enable us to avert these two clangers save 
a utilitarian principle, full of Love and Wisdom for all 
human-kind. 



EFFECTS OF UTILITARIANISM. 377 

What do you think of the United States ecclesiastically ? 

Ill the Church I perceive just what is most obvious 
in the State : the State is Godless, and the Church is 
Christless. We preach Jesus, and practise Moses. Men 
preach that the dispensation of Jesus must prevail, in 
order to have peace on earth and good-will among men. 
But almost every law, code, or institution, has in it the 
spirit of Moses. They are stamped with the seal of 
power, not with love ; with force and coercion, not with 
the doctrine of universal Justice. Religion in the 
Churches is like politics in the State ; and, I repeat it, 
one is Godless and the other is Christless. The Church 
is preaching love, but practising force ; and the Govern- 
ment is preaching God, but practising something which 
strongly suggests the opposite personage! Two incom- 
patible elements animate the American people — abso- 
lute Tyranny and absolute Freedom. Roman Catholic- 
ity represents absolute Despotism, and Ilarmonial Phil- 
osophy represents absolute Liberty. The first holds that 
institutions are god-originated; the other, that institu- 
tions spring out of a progressive humanity. Ilarmonial 
Philosophy teaches that Liberty is the common inheri- 
tance of all men ; the Church, that Liberty is danger- 
ous, except when granted as a temporary privilege. 
The Romish "Church regards the spirit of unconditional 
Liberty as its strongest antagonist. 



378 QUESTIONS ON THE 

"Will these opposite forces continue to agitate each other until they 
reach dissolution? 

Yes ; and then will arrive a period of utilitarian dis- 
cussion and warlike collision. The spirit of force will 
spring fearfully out of the Church, and the spirit of re- 
sistance will start out of the people. Between these 
two antagonisms the American people will be involved 
in civil difficulties ; and established Churches w T ill ex- 
perience severe paroxysms and numerous ecclesiastical 
convulsions. The <n*eat mass of Protestants will clincr 
passionately to the spirit of Freedom. But a large mi- 
nority, considering that ecclesiastical " authority " is 
safer than the doctrine of individual sovereignty and 
extreme radicalism, will bow before and embrace the 
neck of the Mother Church. Conservatives always have 
more fear than perception of principles, and will mili- 
tate against progressive doctrines by going back into the 
maternal embraces of the Catholic Church. One great 
struggle in America will grow out of a theological ques- 
tion : " Whether God rules the human soul through the 
church, or the church through the human soul?" This 
question, methinks, will one day bo put to all the in- 
habitants _of America. This will bo a Day of Judg- 
ment. Tyranny? or Freedom '{ Shall we consider our- 
selves wedded to a Church system % or shall we convert 
these Chnrches into Lyceums, and make them subserve 



EFFECTS OF UTILITAEIANISM. 379 

the utilitarian development of the people? Utilitari- 
anism will put these questions, and the people will be 
obliged to decide. The decision of one party will bring 
out a stupendous resistance ; and the United States, 
having political and ecclesiastical troubles at the same 
time, will be strangely convulsed. 

What plan would you suggest whereby to avert these national 
troubles ? 

The nation should pass directly through all this wil- 
derness of conflict into the Promised Land. It is now 
only about half-past nine o'clock to the American gov- 
ernment, and half -past eight in regard to American ec- 
clesiastical progression. This question, I repeat, will be 
put to every soul : " Are you in favor of Horn an Cath- 
olicity, or of Harmon ial Philosophy ? " In other words, 
" Are you a friend of the universal and unconditional 
control of human souls by institutions, or of the uncon- 
ditional and unrestricted control of institutions by hu- 
man souls?" This question will bring a day of great 
trial to the American people. Fearful conservatives 
will call to mind the fleeting republics of Greece ; the 
little Italian democracies, also, that flashed out and 
bloomed for a day! Utilitarianism is fall of encour- 
agement for the American people ; that, as a nation, we 
will bask in eternal wealth and distributed luxuries. 
Such encouragements, to certain temperaments, look 



380 QUESTIONS ON THE 

like Utopian dreams. They remember the republics of 
Italy — the evanescent democracies of past times. 

What do you think of the conscience of the American Church ? 

It is not above the conscience of the Old Testament. 
They preach Jesus, but indorse the enormities of Moses. 
Love is highest right, but force is ordinary good. The 
American Church believes that Liberty is good for all 
T/hite nations, yet Slavery is considered the best state 
for the advancement of the African ! Churches, there- 
fore, have a vital difficulty — bordering rapidly upon 
consumption — afflicting all departments of the constitu- 
tion, which interferes with the breathing, the digestion, 
and the spiritual locomotion, of the American people. 
There is not a State, in the whole system of American 
government, but is more or less implicated by this terri- 
ble disease, viz. : lack of God in the State, lack of 
Christ in the Church. Yet no one can doubt but that 
there are conscientious men and women in the Churches. 
The Church's conscience is scarcely higher than the 
country's godless politics. Between the two we find 
that which every reformer should be alarmed at, namely 
— a systematic disease, permitting the steady encroach- 
ment of War and Slavery. Most people, therefore, 
believe that partial Slavery is the true way of the world. 
"We deserve a system of religion which will not gener- 
ate false ideas of man, of Father-God, and Mother-Na- 



EFFECTS OF UTILITARIANISM. 381 

tare. In the American Church, let it be remembered, 
there arc Unitarians, Universalists, and Quakers, preach- 
ing a higher class of negative truths. But their infju- 
cncc is hemmed in, and absolutely debilitated, by the 
encroachments of institutional authority. Unitarians 
are fearful of being considered too infidel ; therefore, 
they work themselves deeper and farther into" popular 
ecclesiasticisms. Liberal Christians fear lest they may 
transcend the wisdom of the past times, and become 
wise above what is written. Certain Unitarian gentle- 
men may be seen, with white gloves and sugar-tongs, 
touching Slavery very gracefully, and very beautifully 
alluding to Intemperance. The American Church does 
not appeal intelligently to the topmost human faculties. 
In what is the American Church most deficient ? 

The American Church is most defective in its doc- 
trines concerning Man and the Divine Existence. Uni- 
versalists have done much to bring in a system of nat- 
ural ecclesiasticism, favorable to man, and promulgating 
a higher report of Deity. The principal mischief of the 
Church arises from its barbarous opinions. It has no 
complete conception of a Divine Being. Its concep- 
tions of God are well-nigh satanic, and its ideas of man 
are extremely subversive. Under the influence of the 
American Church, a man sees himself to be worthless. 
The God of the American Church is not half as good as 



332 QUESTIONS ON THE 

the Devil who was elaborated by Zoroaster ! It is elo- 
quently preaching whatsoever is lovely, beautiful, poeti- 
cal, magnificent; but, at the same time, it is practising 
much which is forcible, hateful, insignificant, and op- 
posed to the doctrines of Distributive Justice. The 
doctrine, " Let no one call God his Father who calls not 
man his brother," has been intimated in all ages of the 
world. I put my ear to the key-hole of human history, 
aucl can hear the beatings of the heart of Confucius, all 
the way across the centuries. This doctrine was first 
uttered by the man who rose to the summit of human- 
ity. But listen to the American Church, and yon will 
hear no such universal principle advocated. It is poetic, 
elocutionary, overflowing with symbols and magnificent 
pictures. But the slaves of " the peculiar institution" 
arc not "Brethren" in the light of the American 
Church. Even liberal Churches are not free from this 
prejudice. This fact amply demonstrates that Ameri- 
can Churchianity is not willing to indorse the doctrine 
of universal relationship — the doctrine, " Let no one 
call God his Father who calls not man his brother." It 
is good to preach the golden rule, but the time has not 
come to practise it ! Utilitarian policy is paramount to 
principle. The conscience of the State is indorsed by 
the conscience of the Church. Whenever the State 
enacts a law, even though it be against the freedom of 



EFFECTS OF UTILITARIANISM. 3S3 

all African people, the Church, as a general fact, will 
silently indorse it. 

Will utilitarianism develop a new theology ? 

Yes; a practical age will bring a new conception of 
Deity, and a new conception of man. The laws written 
upon man's inmost nature are more utilitarian than the 
ten commandments. These are the laws of Deity. 
Reverence for the principles of human nature is more 
utilitarian than adhesion to the enactments of institu- 
tions. Yes ; we are on the threshold of an era when a 
new God is to be introduced to mankind. 

What will utilitarianism demand in order to inaugurate this new 
God? 

It will call for Teachers to protest against bad laws 
and speak in favor of good ones. Religion must preside 
over political movements. Matrimonial association, of 
the new State with the new Church, is to be contempla- 
ted. Ilarmonial political movements will be divinely 
influential in moulding and regulating humanity. The 
great thing to be expected from the religious clement 
of utilitarianism is : a new God to regulate the world, 
and a new Idea of man by which humanity will be 
elevated and encouraged. This Ilarmonial rcliffionwill 
not contemplate creeds and organizations, but only what- 
soever will serve as stepping-stones to distributive Jus- 
tice. Universal Justice is the highest manifestation of 



384 QUESTIONS ON THE 

religion ; and morality is the practice of it. A prox 
imate manifestation of true religion will result from the 
utilitarian movements of the Nineteenth Century. This 
harmonial dispensation of Justice will ultimately over- 
ride all distinction of races, all organizations, institu- 
tions, and all that in them is; at once revealing to 
individual man that he embosoms a pure imperishable 
angel; that Father-God liveth throughout all the 
domains of Mother-Nature ; and that the earth's inhab- 
itants may forever love, worship, labor, and be happy. 

Will anything rescue us from plunging hopelessly into one or both 
of those great errors, War and Slavery ? 

We may be measurably rescued by extending the 
American utilitarian idea of politics, and unfolding and 
enlarging the American Conscience. The rostrum 
should supersede the pulpit ; and teaching should super- 
sede preaching. 

Will utilitarianism influence modern spiritualists ? 

Yes ; but their present danger is twofold : external 
and organ al. In spiritualism we find the utilitarian 
tendency to externalism and organization ; both of 
which will measurably interfere with progression. Spir- 
itualists will experience the contact of a Godless system 
of politics on one side and a Ghristless system of 
religion on the other. Utilitarianism will discover 
that spiritualism is subserving a great development. 



EFFECTS OF UTILITAEIANISM. 385 

Use points toward a reform of Church and State. 
Spiritual utilitarianism works for a new idea of God 
and a better conception of man. Mankind must rub 
their eyes and obtain a clear perception of their rela- 
tions as men and women, as husbands and wives, as 
brothers and sisters, as post-mortem delegates to the 
spiritual world. 

Does utilitarianism welcome the Spiritual Dispensation ? 

Yes ; it is coming to be seen that it don't pay to shut 
one's eyes against the incoming light. The new dispen- 
sation, like a star in the cloudless horizon, already shines 
upon man's pathway. That star shall glow and broaden, 
"until it hangs divine and beautiful in the proud 
zenith," filled with angels' faces; the loving compan- 
ions of his pilgrimage, shedding new light upon men at' 
every turn in the path of life. The old heavens, the 
old earth, the old theology and its god, shall be de- 
stroyed by the light of Ilarmonial Truths. " For, 
behold," says an oriental medium, " the day cometh that 
shall burn as an oven — and the proud, yea, and all that 
do wickedly, shall be stubble." Hence theologians and 
politicians will find at last that it don't pay to shut their 
eyes against the higher law of Truth and Justice. To 
every faithful progressionist, to all hospitable friends of 
the Ilarmonial Dispensation, the Sun of Righteousness 

will arise with healing in his wings, and myriad spirits 
17 



386 QUESTIONS ON THE 

will joyfully become their fellow-workmen. Most grate- 
ful am I for the utilitarian proclivities of the age. 
They will help to destroy all fictions. The doctrine of 
"profit and loss "will eventually put each thing — in 
church and state, in man and society — to the test of 
Use and Economy. And thousands of absurdities will 
be abandoned : because they don't pay. 

Will the doctrine of utility be applied to modern law and govern- 
ment ? 

Yes ; although we have the best country in the world, 
with the best government, yet are we very far from that 
harmonial condition of reciprocal interests in which 
Law and Liberty will be synonymous. As a nation we 
need less government and more growth. Our laws 
should be more comprehensive and harmonial. Man- 
kind will create laws, I think, as long as they remain 
beneath the plane of Wisdom. In fact, laws are natural 
and necessary to transitional stages. But, in our pro- 
gressed condition, it won't pay to have Laws enforced 
which do not subserve the welfare of the individual as 
well as the whole. Our laws, as I shall hereafter show, 
are now against the rights of individuals. The African 
race have no rights under our laws. Our laws grant 
but few liberties and fewer rights to women. Our laws 
favor the Capitalist. The legal rights of those persons 
are protected who have money to pay for them. Our 



EFFECTS OF UTILITAEIANISM. 387 

laws seek the imprisonment, not the improvement, of 
the unfortunate offender. The offender is regarded as 
a wilful foe to society ; not as a misdirected member of 
a common Brotherhood. Hence, onr laws seek his pun- 
ishment ; not his development. Viewed in a utilitarian 
light, there is much in such laws which don't pay. 
Do we entertain ideas of Liberty which don't pay ? 

Yes ; there are many minds who imagine that indi- 
vidual Liberty means, or ought to mean, unrestrained 
license or recklessness. "Whereas Liberty is a sacred 
Principle — a power unto salvation — a flower, blooming 
with an immortal beauty. At first, like everything else, 
it comes from the soil. It springs up in the midst of 
thorns and thistles. But moved forward by the powers 
of progression, it transcendeth all terrestrial hindrances 
and towereth grandly above : spreading its branches in 
all directions, like the kingly oak on the mountain's 
summit. 

Is Liberty a radical law of the huznan mind ? 
Yes ; Liberty, as a radical law of mind, has struggled 
and labored on the tides of ages : as a ship with waves 
and storms. Amid the consolidations of monarchy — 
xmid rocks and sand-bars thrown up, in the sea of 
mman experience, by Caracalla and Tiberius, Nero, 
Uommodus, Caligula, and the nocturnal workers of 
nodern days — amid all, Llbeety has marched steadily 



388 QUESTIONS ON THE 

onward : with the strength of Justice and the fearless- 
ness of Truth. Although feloniously assaulted now 
and then, and well-nigh wrecked upon the blood-stained 
coasts of tyranny, yet has Liberty gained, in safety and 
with a glorious triumph, new and better continents, 
ladened with divinest blessings. 

Have men never lost confidence in the idea of Liberty "becoming 
universal ? 

ISo ; the Greek democracies, the Iioman Laws of suf- 
frage, the Italian Republics of the middle ages, the 
efforts of different races, evolved by Liberty from the 
very womb of darkness and despotism itself, have con- 
served the high purpose of keeping man's faith alive in 
-the potentiality and divinity of the Principle. High 
above the thundering uproar and clashing tumult of 
the semi-barbarian age, stood the natural apostles of 
humanity — Dante, Petrarch, Tasso, Paphael, Michael 
An^elo, Galileo, and others — flino-in^ a luminous 
beauty o'er the tragedy of the times: foreshadowing an 
era of refinement, of science, of civilization, and Uni- 
versal Liberty! And all the friends of humanity still 
press forward to that Era. The continent of real 
organic Freedom is still in the future : to be discovered 
and peopled. 

When was the doctrine of human Brotherhood first proclaimed ? 

The ship of human Brotherhood, with all nations on 



EFFECTS OF UTILITARIANISM. 389 

board, was launched countless centuries since. At 
first, it was but a rude sailing vessel, illy constructed 
and equipped, managed by kings and tyrants, with 
recurring signs of mutiny and revolt ; the crew against 
the masters ; left often thus to struggle with the storms 
of ignorance, passion, avarice, and superstition, barely 
escaping the perils of utter destruction. Finally, how- 
ever, in a propitious hour, this eternal ship, leaking and 
damaged at all points, will be drawn upon the stocks of 
Reason — -examined, and converted, by the aid of new 
material, into a magnificent ocean steamer, freighted 
with the best interests of all men, and piloted no more 
by priests and kings, but by the Father-God and Mother- 
Katnre. Thus circumstanced, we will joyfully glide 
away, with the highest hopes and fullest confidence of 
all on board : believing that, in accordance with the 
working of immutable Laws, our ship will eventually 
reach the Plymouth Rock of a Ilarmonial United 
States — the haven of a new world — where Love and 
Light and Law and Liberty will be integral — flowing 
on through human affairs, musically, like the voice of 
many waters. O Liberty ! Thou speakest, from the 
fountain-centres of the Universe, to the heart of uni- 
versal Man. Liberty ! Thou thrillest -the bosom of the 
world ! Liberty ! In true souls thou kindlest a fire 
of boundless Love. Liberty! The ages have borne 



300 



ma on the 



sublime witness to thy divine majesty. Liberty ! 
There is an immortal melody in thy Thought. Lib- 
erty ! Ilearest thou the echo of thy voice through 
upper Spheres ? 

One effulgent day my immortal Preacher * read from 
his radiant altar the following notice : " This happy 
congregation is urgently requested to take part in a 
Utilitarian Convention which will commence its sessions 
in this consecrated Sanctuary to-morrow morning." 
Accordingly, at the appointed hour, the fraternal mem- 
bers reverently assembled themselves together ; when, 
unexpectedly to him, my blessed Preacher w T as by ac- 
clamation appointed Chairman, and the convention then 
peacefully proceeded to business. Any report, of the 
questions propounded or record of the speeches deliv- 
ered, is deemed wholly unnecessary. Put the honored 
Chairman offered a set of fourteen remarkable Resolu- 
tions — plenarily inspired with the very essence of 
Utilitarian reform — which I submit as being worthy 
the reader's consideration. 

What was the first Resolution ? 

First : Resolved, That it is the constitutional preroga- 
tive of the Human Mind freely and fearlessly and dis- 
passionately to examine into and investigate each and 

* See a chapter in the Great Harmonia, second volume, entitled, 
" My Preacher and his Church." 



EFFECTS OF UTILITARIANISM. 391 

everything to be found in the Bible as well as out of 
it : that the Old and New Testaments are our friends 
and teachers, but not our guides or masters ; that any 
theory, hypothesis, philosophy, sect, creed, or institution, 
that fears investigation, openly manifests its own weak- 
ness and implies its own error. 
What was the second Resolution ? 

Second : Resolved, That all true Liberty and Happi- 
ness are predicated upon the twofold principle of 
Individual sovereignty and Collective reciprocity ; 
therefore, that all religious systems and all forms of 
government, opposed to the practical enjoyment of such 
self-sovereignty as the basis, are essentially barbarous 
and vitally antagonistic to the real needs of the man 
and woman of the Nineteenth Century. 

What was the third Resolution ? 

Third : Resolved, That Religion is Justice ; that 
Heaven is Harmony ; that Love is the Life of the Uni- 
verse ; that Yv r isdom is the Order of the Universe ; that 
distributive Liberty is the natural result of Nature's 
Laws in exercise. 

What was the fourth Resolution ? 

Fourth: Resolved, That every form of theological 
sectarianism is anti-progressive, arid practically retards 
the development of brotherly Love among men, and 
militates not less against the expansion of the eternal 



392 QUESTIONS ON THE 

principle of Distributive Justice ; and that, therefore, 
all sectarian distinctions and local attachments to creeds 
should henceforward be abandoned, as worse than use- 
less, by every teacher of individual Development, by 
every lover of social Harmony, and by every friend of 
political and religious Liberty. 
What was the fifth Resolution ? 

Fifth : Resolved, That, whereas in the constitution of 
our government it is an essential or fundamental princi- 
ple that "all men (in the generic sense) are created 

equal with certain inalienable Rights " to 

secure which "governments are instituted among men, 
deriving their just powers from the consent of the gov- 
erned ; " and whereas our government practically de- 
nies not only the right of Liberty to the slave, but 
likewise practically denies the right of Suffrage to wo- 
men ; therefore resolved that our government, though 
the best known on earth, is in effect despotic, and op- 
posed to the principles of equal Justice and universal 
Liberty. 

What was the sixth Resolution ? 

Sixth : Resolved, That America is now but the repre- 
sentative of Transitional Republicanism and sentimen- 
tal Liberty ; that political antagonism and local monop- 
lizations are natural to this form of civilization ; that 
the Harmonial Philosophy points the pathway to or- 



EFFECTS OF UTILITAEIANISM. 393 

ganic and constitutional Freedom ; and, therefore, that 
every Ilarmonial Philosopher should use his political in- 
fluence to put in office only such minds as will legislate 
according to Nature and Reason, and work for equal 
Justice and universal Liberty. 
What was the seventh Resolution ? 

Seventh : Resolved, That in accordance with repeated 
ocular demonstrations, and the coincidental attestation 
of thousands of worthy and intelligent minds in the 
United States and in Europe, we believe, first, in the 
sympathetic Nearness of the spiritual world (the Sec- 
ond Sphere) to the natural world (the First Sphere) ; 
second, in the possibility of an intellectual and impres- 
sional Intercourse between the dwellers of these two 
worlds ; third, that the varieties and gradations of hu- 
man character extend and continue indefinitely beyond 
the chemical event of physical death ; fourth, and in the 
special providence, general guardianship, and local min- 
istrations, of those who have passed from earth in ad- 
vance of us ; fifth, in accordance with the accumulative 
evidence, we believe that these ascended personages are 
earnest in their associated and combined endeavors to 
assist mankind toward a practical realization of the 
" Kingdom of Heaven on Earth" — in the form of a 
higher social Order wherein each Individual, male and 

female, without complexional distinctions or intellectual 
17* 



394 QUESTIONS ON THE 

or moral differences, will enjoy an equal right to Lib- 
erty — inducing all to be good and wise and happy. 
What was the eighth Resolution ? 

Eighth: Resolved, That modern Spiritualism is not 
antagonistic to, but is essentially in harmony with, the 
Spiritualism of antecedent centuries. 

What was the ninth Resolution ? 

Ninth : Resolved, That the Ilarmonial Philosophy is 
the best and most rational exposition yet known of the 
immutable Laws of Father-God and Mother-Nature ; a 
philosophy which can rescue modern Spiritualism from 
eventuating, as almost all ancient has done, in supersti- 
tious ignorance and localized bigotry, in bondage to ex- 
ternal authorities, and in sectarian organizations detri- 
mental to mankind's advancement. 

What was the tenth Resolution ? 

Tenth : Resolved, That the Mosaic Dispensation (the 
past) was an age of Force, or Compulsion ; that the 
Christian Dispensation (the present) is an age of Love, 
or Impulse ; that the Ilarmonial Dispensation (the fu- 
ture) will be an age of Wisdom, or Harmony. Accor- 
dant with the intuitional experience of all illuminated 
minds, and with the testimony of nations as found in 
their several maxims and sacred scriptures, we believe 
tb at an exercise of Wisdom (which embraces the totality 
of man's intuitional and intellectual consciousness) is 



EFFECTS OF UTILITARIANISM. 395 

necessary in order to harmonize the elements of Force 
and Love — the Lion and the Lamb — and brino* these 

o 

elements of mankind practically to bear upon the physi- 
cal, political, and spiritual interests of the race — in a 
word, to harmonize Man with Himself, with his Neigh- 
bor, with Father-God, and with Mother-Nature. 
What was the eleventh Resolution ? 

Eleventh : Resolved, That the human mind, while it 
is the master of one set of circumstances, is no less the 
subject of another set which is positive to it ; that man 
is not absolutely but comparatively " a free agent ; " 
that man's character is formed favorably or unfavor- 
ably in exact correspondence with the character of the 
influences which surround and act upon him before as 
well as after birth ; therefore, that individual redemp- 
tion from, or progress out of, social error and relative 
imperfections is possible only through the instrumen- 
tality of a higher Societary Construction, which shall, 
by its concordances of interest, destroy all motives for 
the perpetuation of commercial antagonisms, destroy 
all conflict between producer and consumer, all incom- 
patibilities between interest and duty, and provide with 
equal justice for the inception, for the gestation, for the 
birth, for the training, for the education, and for the 
spiritual development, of every son and daughter of 
the Brotherhood of Humanity. 



396 QUESTIONS ON THE 

What was the twelfth Resolution ? 

Twelfth : Resolved, That " evil," so called, is not a 
transgression of any Law, either physical or moral ; but 
that evil (and sin) arise from internal conditions and 
from external circumstances over which' individuals 
have no absolute control ; therefore, that the Harmonial 
Philosophy teaches universal Charity toward both the 
agents and the victims of crime ; and points to the pro- 
gressive improvement and harmonization of those condi- 
tions and those circumstances which mould and influence 
the human character prior as well as subsequent to the 
event of birth. 

What was the thirteenth Resolution ? 

' Thirteenth : Resolved, That the commercial and mer- 
cantile relations instituted among men, and perpetuated 
by the present social disorder, are those of extreme self- 
ishness, leading directly and inevitably to Indigence, 
Larceny, Oppressive Monopolies, War, Slavery, Disease, 
Delusive Doctrines, Professional Drones, and to the de- 
velopment of diversal Unproductive Classes, the effects of 
which cannot be removed and prevented by any change 
short of a IIaemonial Dispensation — overthrowing, 
by its mighty power, all superstitions, liberating equally 
marts affections and his reason from the slavery 
of error and fear — harmonizing the law of Self-Sov- 
ereignty with the parallel law of Social Reciprocity — 



EFFECTS OF UTILITARIANISM. 397 

securing to Woman an equally free career with Man, 
and resulting in good, in wise, and in happy neighbor- 
hoods, which will honor human nature by living, as the 
inhabitants of higher planets do, in strict and natural 
accord with the Divine Laws of Existence — fulfilling 
the spirit of the prayer uttered by our Elder Brother, 
the gentle Nazarene.- 

What was the fourteenth. Resolution ? 

Fourteenth : Resolved, That we heartily rejoice in 
the efforts which benevolent men in all civilized nations 
are making to ameliorate the condition of their fellows 
— the poor, the ignorant, the enslaved, and the criminal ; 
and that, while we encourage Reformers, Teachers, Mis- 
sionaries, Statesmen, and Ministers of every shade and 
degree, we at the same time very fraternally and ear- 
nestly and conscientiously urge upon them the necessity 
of a better acquaintance with the Ilarmonial Philoso- 
phy; to the end that they may be more correct in their 
estimations of Man, in their reports of Deity, and in 
their contemplations of Nature — rendering them more 
efficient in devising the adaptation of instrumentalities 
to the development of those humane and universal ob- 
jects which all true reformers and benevolent minds 
design to accomplish by their associated efforts. 






QUESTIONS ON THE ORIGIN AND PERPETUITY 
OF CHARACTER. 



A cehtain band of questions and answers appeared to 
me just now as divine and redemptive in their influence 
upon human character. In presenting them, I am actu- 
ated by that conviction whicli the poet thus embodied : 

" He that hath a truth and keeps it, 
Keeps what not to him belongs — 
But performs a selfish action, 
And a fellow-mortal wrongs." 

The term " Character" is usually employed to discrim- 
inate reputation. It is used to signify that for which an 
individual is either popular or unpopular, famous or in- 
famous. TTIien a person is understood to be " a wit," a 
powerful " logician/' a notorious " gambler," a masterly 
" actor," or an imaginative " writer," this term is com- 
monly made to follow an adjective, by which to define 
his characteristics. Hence it is said that certain traits, 
or peculiarities, or dispositions, go to make up character. 

Do you employ this word with the meaning which is usually at- 
tached to it ? 

No ; I define character, on the contrary, to be " the 



QUESTIONS ON CHARACTER. 309 

medium " through which the soul expresses itself openly 
— the form by which the whole mind declareth and 
makoth its manifestations. Most distinctly do I affirm 
that men do not understand the real nature of the soul 
of a man by his character. 

What do you mean by this language ? 

I mean by this to affirm that " character " adheres to 
a man only ; that it does not inhere, nor form a part 
of his inmost. Character is a mirror, so to speak, by 
which the sonl looks at itself; the lever upon which it 
acts ; a door through which it passes in and out of the 
temple. Character is the way, the fashion, the manner, 
the expression, the fulcrum, as well as the lever, by and 
through which the soul announceth and declareth itself 
to the External World. 

Do you mean by this that character is not the soul's real expres- 
sion? 

Yes; character is not the soul ; neither is it an ex- 
pression of man's inward nature. You are never more 
mistaken than when you believe you know a person's 
spirit by its characteristic manifestations. The inward 
nature is compelled to express itself through a " form ; " 
but that form may be the creation of an unfortunate 
parentage or education. Consider well, and you will 
discover that " character " adheres, but does not inhere ; 






400 QUESTIONS ON THE ORIGIN 

that it pertains to the individual, but does not constitute 
the inmost interior Reality. 

Are human beings essentially the same ? 

Yes; one principle animates all races of men. Man- 
kind are essentially the same in Nova Zembla as in 
Patagonia ; in the far-off wilderness as in the city of 
New York. Two principles only are capable of infinite 
permutations : they explain the infinite varieties of char- 
acter which swarm the mystic realms of Existence. 
This principle is essentially monotheistic ; it is all God, 
and is panoramic in its immutable operations. By 
interior examination I discerned this Principle, and I 
term it The Great IIarmonia — a divine principle 
which animates intelligently the boundless system of 
Nature. When I mount from the anterior regions of 
" Knowledge " into the superior " "Wisdom " faculties, I 
call this animating principle the" Spirit of Father-God." 

Do you mean to teach that God is distinct from Nature ? 

No ; Mother-Nature is not essentially different from 
Father-God. Nature is a negative part of the Positive 
Principle — even as man's body is the negative part of 
his Mind. There is not one thing which is body, and 
another which is spirit ; neither is there one thing which 
is Nature, and another which is God. No ; there is bat 
One Harmonium, illimitable: in its positive aspects, 
" Father-God " — in its negative departments, " Mother- 






AND PERPETUITY OF CHARACTER. 401 

Nature." Between Father-God and Mother-Nature, as 
I have affirmed, mankind come into existence. Hence 
man is legitimately and truly a child of both Nature 
and God. Nature is the AVife of the Divine Principle, 
and the Divine Principle is the Husband of Nature ! 

Where do you begin to trace the origin of human character ? 

There are three origins and degrees to human charac- 
ter : first, that which is inherited from Father-God and 
Mother-Nature ; second, that which we inherit from our 
immediate father and mother ; third, that which is man- 
ipulated upon us by our private habits, or by those with 
whom we are in sympathy and social communication. 
There is, therefore, a foundational character, which is 
innately divine and forever beautiful. It is never tar- 
nished, for it is untarnishable. It is God-like, because it 
is an individualized detachment of the monotheistic 
Principle. It is pure and immaculate, the same in es- 
sence as in conformation. 

Do you mean to teach that man's spirit is crowned with three 
characters ? 

Yes ; there is a primary character, a secondary char- 
acter, and a tertiary character ; and each is built upon 
and folded over the other. The most radical or inner- 
most character — the divine, the imperishable — is seldom 
manifested in this rudi mental life. The second progen- 
itary character — which man inherits from man — is al- 



402 QUESTIONS ON THE ORIGIN 

most always visible. A child inherits a body, and a 
head on the top of it ; and the future man must live in 
the thus-bequeathed habitation. lie has inherited some- 
what of his father and his mother ; and his " character " 
will be manifested concordantly therewith. The shape 
and quality of his ordinary character will resemble the 
shape and quality of his immediate inheritance. 

Are man's trif old charactars equally beyond his control ? 

There are two characters beyond man's absolute con- 
trol : first, that which was inherited from God and from 
Nature ; second, that which was derived from his indi- 
vidualizing progenitors. Nevertheless, there is a third 
character which ever comes within the circle of individ- 
ual responsibility. Man's body, I affirm, is inherited 
like a dwelling-house ; and he must live in it, whether 
he likes the shape of it or not. The faculties are the 
furniture— also inherited with the habitation. It is im- 
possible radically to change a single faculty. In fact, 
in this world it is hard even superficially to make alter- 
ations. Every chair and every sofa, every item of furni- 
ture, bequeathed to man by his earthly progenitors, was 
placed in his ruclimental house, and he can scarcely move 
them. He must sit low or stand upright, must breathe, 
and feel, and think, in accordance with the structure of 
his habitation and the arrangement of his furniture. 
He begins the business of life with the top faculties : 






AND PERPETUITY OF CHARACTER. 403 

these are his chambers and libraries. Also with the 
lower faculties : these are his drawi riff- rooms. And with 
inferior propensities : these are his kitchen and furni- 
ture. With the body : this is a cellar for the recep- 
tion of garden -vegetables and various substances. And 
beneath all are locomotive appendages: these are the 
agents by which he moves over the earth's surface. 

Does man get a third character by contact with his fellows ? 

Man's character is evidently threefold ; or, it may be 
said that he has three characters : first, the innermost, 
which is seldom manifested ; second, that which he pa- 
rentally inherits ; third, that which is superinduced by the 
church or state, by society, or the family into which he 
is born ; or, still more externally, by persons with whom 
he habitually associates. Varieties of disposition and 
contrarieties of temperament, in individuals with whom 
a man lives in contact, go directly toward the formation 
of a superficial character. And this is the " character " 
which is mainly sustained and manifested by mankind. 

What is the true method by which to control and modify character ? 

Man needs to become acquainted witli well-known 
psychological principles of self-development. These will 
put into his possession the greatest amount of power, 
by which he can control and modify, not only his super- 
ficial character, but also, to a considerable extent, the 
secondary character derived from his individualizing 



404 QUESTIONS ON THE ORIGIN 

progenitors. When a man knows how he obtained a 
superficial character, through which his spirit is forced 
to express and misrepresent itself, his knowledge is 
equivalent to a psychological power by which to modify 
it. It is undeniably plain that the more men increase 
their knowledge and wisdom, the more do they acquire 
an ability by which to undermine and eradicate the su- 
perficial. Grant that the spirits of all men are com- 
posed of the same essential elements, and we have at 
once established a universal Democracy. Go deep into 
human character, and you will find a diamond inheri- 
tance, pure and imperishable. There is no other basis 
upon which to predicate humanitarian Reforms. If you 
can see, deeper into the nature of Man, an essence and a 
character strictly incorruptible, then will you approach 
him as a being whose inmost can disclose the celestial 
structure. 

Are there not persons who possess double characters ? 

Yes; you meet persons manifesting, at once or alter- 
nately, both the acquired and the inherited character. 
About four generations contribute to the formation of 
every individual. Hence, children will resemble their 
immediate father or mother, or else their grandfather or 
grandmother, or generations even more remote, until 
the fourth generation is reproduced and represented. 
Children of some families indicate neither father nor 



AND PERPETUITY OF CHARACTER. 405 

mother ; but remote ancestors come forth in their lead- 
ing characteristics. Characteristics continue to fold 
themselves over and over, but seldom reach farther 
back than the fourth generation. Now all these con- 
ditions originate and construct individual character ; 
and the spirit is compelled to harmonize therewith for a 
term of rudimental years. If it has inherited a large 
back-brain, or a large front-brain, or any other peculi- 
arity, the spiritual manifestation must be accordant. 
Most self-evident is it that a Spirit is constrained to 
manifest itself in accordance with that character which 
was given to it without consultation or consent. The 
character is built up, subsequent to birth, by father and 
mother. After this there cometh the tertiary forma- 
tion. This is the work of the ten thousand social cir- 
cumstances which, like so many potters, have power 
over the clay to " fashion one vessel to honor and an- 
other to dishonor." If you had been born in another 
portion of the globe, what, think you, would have 
followed? This: the physical, the geographical, the 
meteorological, the political, the ecclesiastical, the social, 
and all the other yet subtler influences pertaining to 
that latitude, would have, like master-masons and con- 
structive carpenters, laid the outer walls and put up the 
timbers in your Character. From such causes you 
might have been a Turk, a Mongolian, a Chinese, or a 






406 QUESTIONS ON THE OEIGIN 

Hindoo: just the same as, by living the life of New 
York, yon may obtain a concrete character, and get 
familiarized more or less with a little of all the world. 
It is to the rectification of this external, outside charac- 
ter, to which men should direct their immediate atten- 
tion. If we wish to grow harmonial, let ns begin by 
analyzing and removing those causes which retard the 
development of that divine character inherited from 
Father-God and Mother-Nature. 

Would some associative method propitiate the inmost develop- 
ment ? 

Yes ; deeply impressed am I that mankind, as a 
Brotherhood, needs a cosmopolitan or world-wide Asso- 
ciation, which contemplates modifying the Church, the 
State, the Family, Society, and even other departments 
of human interest, with direct reference to the harmo- 
nial formation of this third character. Human char- 
acter is affected so deeply by ecclesiastical institutions 
that nothing can require of reformers more investiga- 
tion. A religion of forms, of ceremonies, of rituals, is 
not the religion of manhood. Men need a religion 
which, when defined, means Universal Justice. Insti- 
tutions have a powerful effect upon those who keep 
out of them as well as upon those who are absorbed 
by their mighty magnetism. Impoverished citizens of 
New York, who have never entered a church, who 



AND PERPETUITY OF CHARACTER. 407 

live perhaps beneath the walks or in cellars, are 
affected nevertheless by the nature of the pervading 
theologies. The most positive type of doctrine acts 
through all the interstices of consciousness, until it 
reaches the remotest soul. "\7e need a religion of Jus- 
tice, which contemplates the harmonial development of 
character. Popular religious institutions exert a pow- 
erful influence upon character, more especially upon 
that portion which is called " conscience." Ilow many 
there are who sincerely believe it " wrong " to attempt 
theological progression! They cherish a conscientious 
conservatism, and the Church has magnetized them into 
it. The conscience of such persons, I would say, is 
educational — an acquired idea of right and wrong. 
These ideas are susceptible of various modifications. 
Hence persons alter their minds upon all kinds of ques- 
tions. That is right this week ; next week, it is wrong. 
Alterations are perpetually going on in the superficial 
conscience, and progress is the result. 

Is the tertiary character formed unconsciously ? 

Measurably so. Suppose, for example, yon attend 
Church next Sunday. By the Monday following you 
will be more affected by your memory of the prayer, 
sermon, and music, than by the spirit of the music, the 
spirit of the sermon, or the spirit of the prayer. It is 
the form which strikes deepest into the soil of the outer 



408 QUESTIONS ON THE ORIGIN 

character. You remember to have been in the Church, 
but the spirit of the day hath departed. The outer 
form remains in your memory, which influences your 
spirit insensibily to manifest itself in like manner. 
Should you meditate upon God, you will think in your 
preacher's peculiar language. Think of music, and 
your thought will be in accordance with that tune which 
lingers strongest upon your memory. You remember 
the music's form, and your spirit flows insensibly into 
that. You know how it was with the " Marseillaise 
Hymn ; " it was impressed upon all France. Its form 
became a part of the memory. Joyful natures would 
sing and dance it ; to them, there was sublime courage 
and hope in the very form of that hymn. Is it not also 
true that our own memorable " Hail Columbia," and 
our still more familiar " Yankee Doodle," has been 
sung and drummed and blowed and whistled by hun- 
dreds of thousands who have simply heard the tune and 
remembered the words % In order to illustrate how in- 
sensibly man acquires his tertiary character, I will tell 
you an experiment : One Sabbath I saw a man, the 
keeper of a livery-stable, at a revival meeting. The 
broad-breasted and muscular-mouthed minister used his 
most emphatic language. lie terrifically described the 
terrors of the Lord, and the not more terrible attributes 
of the Devil. With all the stirring language at his com- 



AND PERPETUITY OF CHARACTER. 409 

mand, lie delineated the fate of the impenitent and un- 
redeemed. Well do I remember how he raised himself 
up in the old red-upholstered desk, and said : "God will 
damn to hell every uncontrite heart, every unregenerate 
soul.'* At length the meeting closed and the proprietor 
returned to his stable. As he entered, he was informed 
that one of his best horses was down and floundering in 
the stall. Several attempts were made to raise the ani- 
mal, but he would fall back almost in the same spot. 
Presently, the livery-man became exceeding wroth ; he 
strongly resembled the minister ! And lo, in a manner 
quite minister-like, he raised his powerful voice, and — 
"damned the horse to hell." You perceive that the 
proprietor's spirit rushed through the very words which 
the clergyman had stamped upon his brain. 

Would you attempt to trace all profanity to the pulpit ? 

No ; and yet I do affirm that the pulpit has done 
much toward giving a morose tertiary character to 
many, even to profanely-inclined persons who have 
never been inside the Church. From the Church they 
learn, first, a provoking idea of " God" — second, " will " 
—third, " damn "—fourth, " your "— fifth, " soul "— 
sixth, "to hell ; " and, in a retentive and intentive mem- 
ory, it is a very easy matter to ring the changes on these 
profane and suggestive words. Let a person with an 

irascible temperament, who has never been within an 
18 



410 QUESTIONS ON THE ORIGTN 

orthodox Church, hear for the first time such atrocious 
expressions ; and quite sure am I that he will transmit 
them to a whole crowd of excitable minds before twelve 
o'clock the next day! Then each individual of this 
crowd transmits " God will damn your soul " to another 
individual : and so the innoculation goes forward ; and 
in ten days, from the date of the sermon, they become 
abbreviated and changed and stereotyped expressions 
through that village or part of the country. Xow, who 
will say that the popular pulpit is not responsible for 
much profanity ? A universal religion of Justice, on 
the contrary, would contemplate the Harmony of every 
individual. It cannot be disguised that every individ- 
ual, whether a member or not, is affected and charac- 
terized by those institutions of his country which are 
called " ecclesiastical." 

Is character also influenced by the existing- political institutions ? 

Yes ; it would be interesting to detail what has been 
done in different countries — in all Europe and in Amer- 
ica — to stamp new political ideas, through certain legal 
enactments, whereby hundreds of thousands have re- 
ceived tertiary characters. You remember a certain 
powerful magician of our country He once stood up 
before all the crowned heads in his nation's capitol, with 
a deal of learning, and with a mystic rod in his hand, 
called up from shadow-land a " Fugitive Slave Law." 



AND' PERPETUITY 07 CHARACTER. 411 

lie threw it to the earth, frightened at his own skill, and 
loj it became a Serpent ! How many lesser magicians 
have labored to imitate him ! Sometimes these political 
imitators achieve temporary triumphs, bnt their several 
" compromises," on being thrown down to the earth, 
have each become a serpent ; but the Fugitive Slave 
Law, being a Mosaic invention and greater than the 
others, has swallowed them all ! You see how this po- 
litical contrivance operates in America : do you not ? 
The Fugitive Slave Law will continue for a quarter of a 
century, after its repeal, to affect the tertiary character 
of the American people. .Repeal it in the next twenty- 
four hours, and the effect of that Law will remain en- 
stamped upon the American spirit. That is to say, the 
people will continue to put confidence in compromises 
and expedients. Yes ; the influence of a political in- 
stitution is stamped upon the tertiary character ; and the 
nation, as well as the individual, is compelled in some 
insensible way to wade through every inch of the popu- 
lar channel. 

But is it not true that every disease brings its own remedy ? 

We shall see : it is true that social confusion develops 
social architects ; and that each presents different 
schemes, or remedies, by which to escape from or cure 
the injustice and inequalities of present disorders. Of 
course, the world has never been without these Social 



412 QUESTIONS ON THE ORIGIN 

Architects. We have had the generalizing scientific 
Fourier, and the humanitarian Owen. Different indus- 
trial combinations have come forth, and societary com- 
munities have essayed to work out the gigantic problem, 
to abolish inequalities and overcome injustices. But the 
inmost character alone can apprehend and appreciate 
the better and the best. Society, like a piece of utili- 
tarian machinery, is full of wheels, of bands, of pul- 
leys ; and we pray for a John Fitch, or a Fulton, for 
some person, skilled in moulding the tertiary character. 
Shafts and wheels now wabbling, in the social structure, 
could be brought into harmonious movement. Men 
should unite those influences which go toward the crea- 
tion of social simplification ; the simplification of com- 
merce and merchandise, of farming and manufacturing. 
Truth is always simple. This is that for which the in- 
ner character constantly yearns. There are persons who, 
getting fatigued with religious corruptions and the wab- 
blings of the wheels of the social machinery, go away 
into side conditions. They take some established cen- 
tral principle as the divine animus of their movement, 
and organize themselves around that. If they fail to 
harmonize all human relations, then decomposition is 
certain to steal into their organization, and a decay of 
effort is inevitable. But, feeling at times a deeper 
character and a radical attraction toward better states, 



AND PERPETUITY OF CHARACTER. 413 

these Social Physicians do not despair of one day admin- 
istering the perfect Remedy. 

Do you contemplate the application, of Justice to every human re- 
lation ? 

Yes ; there is a religion of Justice which may be ap- 
plied first and foremost to the Family relations. That 
is to say : to the relation of man to woman, to the rela- 
tion of lover and beloved, to the relation of husband 
and wife, to the relation of parent and child, to the re- 
lation of friend and enemy, and to the stranger which 
is without thy gate. Man's tertiary character should be 
formed by a religion which contemplates Universal Jus- 
tice. Character is formed for the individual ; in accord- 
ance with the family and country and religion into which 
lie is born. It depends upon the influences which the 
human soul encounters before as well as after its emerge- 

Jo 

ment into this world, as to whether it will be discordant 
or harmonious, or, take the middle track, and exhibit 
somewhat of both the secondary and tertiary. 

Can this Justice be applied by the individual to himself ? 

Yes ; to a certain extent. As nearly as possible, each 
man should be a practical exemplification of his Ilarmo- 
nial Philosophy. Aim at a proportionate development 
of character — at the exhumation of the Inmost — to get 
the fullest and best expression. This can be done, not 
by individual effort alone, but by combination ; through 



414 QUESTIONS ON THE ORIGIN 

association with those who have the same object in view 
and the same plan of accomplishment. 

How can this association be arranged ? 

It would not be difficult for a limited number of per- 
sons — say six or twelve — to meet together once each 
week ; to come together, from different parts of the 
town or country, for the purpose of a normal develop- 
ment. Let them continue to meet and get into sympa- 
thy — feeling each other's affections and intellects — and 
so harmonize each with the other's mind. Such a har- 
monial association would invite higher and diviner in- 
nucnccs — would receive showers and benedictions from 
unseen sources — until the whole circle would be of one 
accord, and each individual member would become a 
positive power unto Salvation. This is the way to com- 
mence a system of harmonial reform — in spite of all 
adverse social influences — whereby you may modify and 
improve the characters which you have inherited and 
acquired. Suppose, for illustration, you have acquired 
a habit of drinking, of smoking, of swearing, of loose 
thinking, or of indulging passional excesses — and sup- 
pose you join the circle with the understanding and in- 
tention of emancipating your soul from these defective 
characteristics — in such case, the effect of the associa- 
tion would be manifested in an insensible diversion of 
your thoughts into higher channels, and, subsequently, 



AND PERPETUITY OE CHARACTER. 415 

a new tertiary character would be formed for a better 
expression of your true spirit. There is no church, no 
sanctuary, so desirable as a well-balanced body and soul ; 
but it cannot be erected, nor consecrated, without frater- 
nal assistance ; there must be a continual contribution of 
sympathy, from those who have the same glorious bless- 
ing in prayer. Remember, such circles should be formed 
not to invite outward phenomenal-calculated to impress 
the mind with awe and astonishment — but for the inter- 
blending, energization, and harmony of those faculties, 
or characters, through which the soul must express itself. 
The primal end to be attained is, the development of 
individual mind in strict obedience to its own most in- 
ternal character and proclivities. Mind must be rounded 
out in accordance with its own most interior tendencies. 
The ideal character must be your own ideal : of what 
you would be! Such should be your aspiration, your 
god, your guardian angel. Around this ideal character, 
your inmost, will cluster a thousand energizing and 
friendly forces ; and you will surely obtain rest and 
satisfaction. 

What do you say concerning the perpetuity of character ? 

I affirm that the primary character, derived from 
Father-God and Mother-Xature, is permanent and im- 
mortal. The secondary character, imparted by mun- 
dane progenitors, is built over the deepest and inmost. 



416 QUESTIONS ON THE OEIGIN 

This hereditary possession continues through this world, 
and may continue for centuries in the next ; but it is 
capable, under self-control, of wholesome harmonial 
modification. The tertiary character, formed and fixed 
by habits, has a duration which is determined — first, by 
the strength of your aspiration to outgrow it — second, 
by the associations which aspiration attracts about you. 
You should associate with those who are sure and stead- 
fast in their efforts to obtain righteousness. The perpe- 
tuity of the tertiary or superficial character is a question 
of time. Its perpetuation is not a question for eternity. 
You may strive to overcome, and may experience defeat ; 
but each defeat is but Nature's affirmation, that nothing 
absolute can be done without co-operation. It is neces- 
sary not only to have the assistance of friends in this 
world, but we need also to receive the spiritualizing aid 
of our neighbors in the Spirit Land. On one occasion 
I met a fine-looking literary man, with a bad tertiary 
character, who was quite satirical and severe upon man- 
kind. I recollect his quoting a passage from Byron, 
which suited his inverted characteristics : 

" The time hath been when no harsh sound would fall 
From lips that now would seem imbued with gall, 
Nor fools nor follies tempt me to despise 
The meanest thing- that crawled beneath mine eyes. 
But now, so callous grown — so changed since youth, 
I've learned to think and sternly speak the truth — 



AND PERPETUITY OF CHARACTER. 417 

Learned to deride the critic's starch decree 
And break him on the wheel he meant for me — 
To spurn the rod a scribbler bids me kiss, 
Nor care if courts or crowds applaud or hiss." 

He said that this was the most agreeable passage he ever 
found in Byron ! His filial and universal loves were in- 
verted. By reference to the fourth volume of the Great 
Harmonia you can see the difference between a harmon- 
ious character, and one which is oppressed with tertiary 
deformities or secondary tendencies derived from mis- 
mated progenitors. It is a great consolation to know, 
that all this which we condemn in human nature — this 
evil and sin — adheres only to those strata of character 
which are of temporal duration. The human spirit 
must express itself through forms ; hence we get bad 
representations of the inward nature which is essentially 
pure. Theologians have endeavored to trouble humani- 
tarians with this question : 

How can man be outwardly so evil and sinful, and inwardly so 
pure and divine ? 

To which I reply, that " character " is the form 
through which the soul expresses itself. The expression 
and the form will correspond. If a man should im- 
press bad words upon your mind, your character will 
flow out through them. If the windows of your house 
were of blue glass, you would see everything beyond or 

outside of them as tinged or draped in a color corre- 
18* 



4:18 QUESTIONS ON THE ORIGIN 

sponding. If there were interposed between your eye 
and the pure, white, shining light of the sun, a red, 
saffron, or green, its light would appear to your mind to 
be colored accordingly. So the character which is in- 
terposed between the world and your spirit. That 
which is within, like the sun's pure light, is divine and 
untarnishable. The spirit is not marred or injured in 
its inner essence by contact with the body or the world, 
although its manifestations may be crude and painfully 
discordant. Spirit is unparticled and unchangeable ; 
but character changes perpetually. Hence a man may 
acquire and represent a multitude of characteristics, 
while his spirit remaineth essentially unchanged. Yes, 
it is a vast pleasure to know that " character " is not the 
exponent of man's spirit. It is but the habitation in 
which lie is compelled by circumstance temporarily to 
live. Therefore, men must commence with the im- 
provement of those social conditions out of which arise 
human character. 

Do you mean to teach that man's spirit is not to be judged by the 
appearance of his character ? 

Yes ; character, I reaffirm, is not the man or the 
woman, but is merely the soul's fragmentary declara- 
tions. It is not the soul, but its compelled expression. 
It is interposed between the innermost and the outer- 
most. It is the framework of the spirit — the setting of 






AND PERPETUITY OF CHARACTER. 419 

the gem of immortal life. If the frame is beautiful, it 
reflects beauty upon the picture ; but if the framing be 
disproportionate and unbeautiful, who Yv r ill say that the 
work of the Divine Artist is therefore imperfect ? The 
first character is natural, the second is superficial, and 
the third is artificial. The first is a sub or uncler- 
structure ; the second is an inter or mediatorial struc- 
ture ; the third is a super or temporary structure, built 
over and outside of its predecessors. To the spiritual 
perceptions of the clairvoyant, or to a person with the 
clairvoyance of a clear intellect, it is undeniably plain 
that one character is built over another, until the spirit- 
essence is well-nigh disguised, incognito. The first 
character, the substructure, is inherited. Its parents, 
as before said, are Father-God and Mother-Nature. 
The second character is inherited from our immediate 
parents, in whom exist the contributions of three or four 
previous generations. This progenitary character is 
the interstructure, through which the spirit of man is 
obliged to express itself. lie must follow out the posi- 
tive proclivities of his immediate parents. External 
character is acquired by habits, and, to a great extent, 
from influential surroundings. 

Can you illustrate how the secondary and tertiary characters are 
formed ? 

Yes ; here, for illustration, is an architect. He de- 



420 QUESTIONS ON THE OKIGIN 

signs a public edifice. He calls together carpenters 
and masons, and furnishes them with tools and appro- 
priate materials. In due course of time the structure 
is reared. But did you ever know a progressive archi- 
tect who was satisfied with his elaboration ? The arche- 
typal ideas of the architect were the first parents of that 
building ; and the workmen were the immediate par- 
ents, by whom come several interpolations. The 
original plan did not contemplate a window there, nor 
a door or closet yonder. These new suggestions are in- 
troduced. A hall is opened in one place, and a flight 
of stairs is erected in another. These, I say, are inter- 
polations, or interstructures. But now come the super- 
ficial workers — that is to say, men with brushes and pots 
of paint — who add ornaments and external embellish- 
ment. This is the acquired character. But the seasons 
come and go, and the paint, and embellishments, and 
ornaments, all slowly disappear — all which the carpen- 
ters, and masons, and painters, have brought into ex- 
pression. The edifice itself realizes innovation, which 
runs parallel with renovation. Finally, the whole is 
reduced : the character which the masons and carpenters 
imparted disappears : and the idea of the original 
architect remains unexpressed. But, on the very foun- 
dation on which that building was erected, a class of 
men bring out his idea in all its proportions. Thus : 



AXD PERPETUITY OF CHARACTER. 421 

Father God and Mother-Nature conceive the idea of a 
man. They summon together all the carpenters and 
masons ; and their names are Legion. There are nine 
hundred millions of vegetables, and one hundred and 
fifty millions of animals — fish, birds, reptiles, marsupials, 
mammalials, and quadrumanals — engaged, as carpenters 
and masons, to express the archetypal idea by the 
production of a Man. It is Nature's idea. Nature 
works through all these materials and spiritual forces 
in order to bring out what is represented by you and 
I. Last of all, instrumental intermediates engaged in 
the production of a human being, are our father and 
mother. They impart to the children individualized 
existence. Then come the painters and ornamental 
workmen, who have much of stucco-work to do ; that is, 
the embellishments, and ornaments, and accomplish- 
ments, and influences, impressed by society. 
What do you mean by this language ? 

I mean that a man may take himself apart, and un- 
derstand the machinery of a human being ; and thus 
acquire a power of self-rectification — and, without any 
unnecessary procrastination, polish away and remove all 
acquired peculiarities which militate against the ample 
expression of his innermost characteristics, inherited 
from Father-God and Mother-Nature. The architect's 
divine Idea is alone immortal ; not the house which he 



422 QUESTIONS ON THE OEIGIN 

builds, nor the paint with which artisans embellish it. 
Even so, are the imperfections of your acquired charac- 
ter, and of the character which you parentally inherited, 
ultimately to pass away. Whether your parentage be 
Caucasian or African, Mongolian or Indian, Celtic or 
Teutonic, it is all the same. Nature will do her work, 
and you will experience at last a complete realization 
of her original Idea. 

Do you mean that Nature's ideas of a man may be realized in this 
life? 

Yes ; nevertheless, your inherited and acquired char- 
acters, unless they be duly overcome and cleansed away, 
will survive the desperate energy of death, and accom- 
pany you when you enter the drawing-rooms and 
supernal chambers of the Eternal Mansion. And there 
you will not lose your individuality : yon will be known 
as you were known by your father and mother; you 
will be recognized by the principle of Universal* Sym- 
pathy. Neither death, with all its mysterious chemical 
energies combined, nor the grave, though it weeps on 
all sides for months and years together, can cleanse the 
spirit of certain characteristics which adhere to it, as a 
consequence of its rudimental existence and organal 
development. 

Does the mind see the world only through its own characteristics ? 

Yes; man sees everything according to his mental 



AND PERPETUITY OF CHARACTER. 423 

state. For example : a master-mind goes into the 
world, and begins an examination of what he calls the 
"Word of God. We will suppose that this mind is 
Martin Luther. lie therefore looks through his own 
mental characteristics, sees the Word of God, audZuth- 
erizes it from the be^innin^ to the concluding sentence. 
A^ain : take the man called John Calvin. lie owns an 
imperious, positive, hereditary character. Taking that, 
with his acquired abilities, he sets his mind conscien- 
tiously to a religious work. His twofold character, in- 
terposed between his most interior spirit and the letter 
of the Bible, compels him to see and render new trans- 
lations to every chapter, verse, and word. In short, the 
book is logically Calvinized from beginning to end ; 
and it depends upon your inherited and acquired char- 
acters whether you become a Lutheran or a Calvinist. 
After a time, we hear of another man — perhaps John 
Wesley. You all know how well he AVesleyized the 
whole Book ! lie was compelled to look through his 
character : he saw a new God, and read a new revela- 
tion, lie saw, as he supposed, that Luther and Calvin 
were much mistaken. He was astonished that intelli- 
gent minds could see anything but Methodism in the 
Bible. Having inherited an imperious and positive 
nature, his thoughts could not be controlled by sur- 
rounding minds. Again, who has not heard of Eman- 






424 QUESTIONS ON THE OEIGIN 






uel Swedenborg ? Who would not like to be in his 
place for twenty -four hoars ? Examine the Word from 
his standpoint, and you will be surprised that any mind 
could be content with Calvin or Luther. Ton would 
perceive a natural, a spiritual, and a celestial sense — 
would see a new scheme, a new Providence, a new 
Church, and a new law establishing the cohesion of 
ideas — spreading far and wide through the heavens like 
an Aurora Borealis ! You are let into the language of 
correspondences ; and you come out corresjpondential- 
ized from head to foot, just as the Bible is Sweden- 
horgianized from Genesis to Revelation. If the struc- 
ture of your acquired character comes within that of 
Calvin, you will be Calvinizecl ; if within that of 
Luther, you will be Lutherized ; if it comes within the 
generalizations and minutiss of Swedenborg, you will 
be Swedenborgianized. Thus, like the edifice of the 
architect, you would be painted, embellished, orna- 
mented, and artificialized, in your exterior character. 
Again : here is John Murray. Now, every receiver of 
his gospel is astonished, when once thoroughly Murray- 
ized, that intelligent minds can see anything in the 
Bible against the doctrine of universal restoration. 
This principle of explaining character will impart to 
your mind an interpreting, a generalizing, and a fra- 
ternizing spirit toward religious sects — to all of which 



AND PERPETUITY OF CHARACTER. 425 

you will have the advantage of being positive. Yv T hat 
a grand joy it is to stand upon a mountain, and see all 
the meeting-houses and seetarian hamlets in the valley 
far below ; to feel that, spiritually, you are monarch of 
all you survey! Every one, at some period of life, goes 
upon the mountain of Contemplation : and when the 
mind comes down out of that mountain, what would it 
not give to remember all it had seen and acquired dur- 
ing those moments of comprehension ! 

What would you do to bring out the innate or divine character ? 

This question will be more fully answered hereafter. 
I would simply elicit that which I know to be integral 
— the natural imasje or harmonial character — which is 
beneath all which you may have inherited or acquired. 
Bring that positively out, and you are saved, not only 
from influences which flow from your immediate sur- 
roundings, but you are rescued not less from ecclesiasti- 
cal and political organizations.' We always get what 
we give. If man runs up an account with himself, he 
is sure to be called one day to settle every farthing of it. 
If a man be a Christian of the Lutheran stamp, or of 
the Calvinistic sort, a Wesley an, a follower of Murray, 
of Svvedendorg, or of any other leader, and if so be that 
he passes to the Spirit-Home in such faith, then he has 
not only the character inherited from his father and 
mother to overcome, but he has to remove an acquired 



426 QUESTIONS ON THE ORIGIN 

character also, which was superinduced upon his mind 
by the painters, the artists, the embellishers, and orna- 
mcnters of the religious organization. 

Will this explain why different religious sects, during- revivals, 
suppose the Lord cometh to their aid ? 

Yes ; I have witnessed those phenomena called " re- 
vival-meetings." There are no manifestations better 
calculated to illustrate this doctrine — that a man's out- 
ward characteristics follow him to the Spirit-Land. Go 
into a Methodist camp -meeting, for example, and pro- 
ceed to analyze a certain mysterious, pervading excite- 
ment. There is, first, an artificial excitement, arising 
from the energetic, psychological minister. Then the 
people, by virtue of combination and oneness of pur- 
pose, effect another, which is the second phase of psy- 
chology. The third psychological excitement is based 
upon the passions ; that is, the nervous susceptibilities 
are prayed for and addressed by exhortation. Perhaps, 
you never witnessed a Methodist minister indulging a 
philosophical reflection. The consequence is, the people 
begin to feel, not to think. They are drawn into the 
region where love is in the ascendant. They inspire a 
love of spiritual excitement : mingled, perhaps, with a 
love for the Supreme. ITow, the religious sensibilities 
begin to be uncontrollably excited. They are venera- 
ble, then prayerful, then convicted of sin : of a thousand 






AND PERPETUITY OF CHARACTER. 427 

things they feel guilty, for which they never imagined 
themselves to be guilty before ! Then they are psy- 
chologically excited to a yet higher degree. Plenty 
there are who have had this " religious " experience. 
These can remember how they prayed in the tents, over 
in the enchanting woods — the many lamps at night 
lighting up the trees — and the most nervo-excitable 
persons in the anxious-seats receiving a mysterious 
afflatus ! At this crisis, with still greater tribulation, 
there cometli a newer experience. They behold start- 
ling visions ! They gaze upon a Methodistic hell, and 
into a Methodistic heaven. They affirm the Bible to be 
the Word of God ; and that the doctrine of the forgive- 
ness of sins is also true. Of all which my explanation 
is brief : that a certain small percentage of a camp- 
Dj^eting excitement is spiritually derived. The ac- 
quired Methodistic character is perpetuated into the 
Spirit-Home, and reacts upon sympathizing minds. 
Methodistic spirits come back to earth at times, and so 
are kept up religious excitements which are supposed to 
be right in the si2*ht of God. 

"Will your explanations extend over the revivals of other sects ? 

Yes ; the unity of truth fixes the unity of causes. 
See ! there is another strange phenomenon. It is a Pres- 
byterian excitement. This is far more thoughtful ; the 
opposite of Methodism. A Presbyterian must be some- 



428 QUESTIONS ON THE ORIGIN 

what logical. You are obliged to take the " premises " 
upon authority ; the rest is completely logical and legiti- 
mate. History does not know a lawyer from the time 
of Luther with a power of intellectual skill better than 
that possessed by Calvin. John Calvin was thoughtful 
and logical ; hence, Presbyterians are logical and 
thoughtful. Methodists are, therefore, characteristically 
different from Presbyterians. And, according to my 
observations, the Presbyterian's acquired character, 
unless modified by new truth, is also carried into the 
Spirit-Home. And when there exists a revival in a 
Presbyterian church, there is a certain small percentage 
of spiritual influx manifested. This inspires the mem- 
bers with a conviction of at least doctrinal righteous- 
ness ; that truth is written through the works of Calvin j 
and that the Bible is the plenum of Divine Revelation. 
I have heard the logical minister inform the audience 
that they were all sinners, which I presume no one 
doubted ; and that the deacons especially were guilty of 
lukewarmness, and of still more heinous sins ; and I 
found that I entertained the same opinion. A revival- 
meeting is a spiritual phenomenon. Such meetings are 
measurably inspired, and stimulated, and perpetuated, 
by the return-wave of minds beyond the grave, who 
have not progressed sufficiently to disgorge their secta- 
rian characteristics. 



AND PERPETUITY OF CHARACTER. 429 

Is the post-mundane perpetuity of acquired characteristics demon- 
strated in armies ? 

Yes ; it was interesting to witness, by aid of clairvoy- 
ance, how the allied forces were stimulated by certain 
liberty-loving Russians who had been shot into the 
Spirit-Home. They obeyed their rulers and generals 
while in the army, because circumstances compelled 
obedience. But those same brave-hearted warriors, 
after existing in the Spirit-Home, certainly not more 
than forty or fifty days, returned to inspire and encour- 
age the men who would break down the spirit of Des- 
potism. It was blessed to behold the visitations to 
those field-camps wherein reposed the soldiers of free- 
dom. But the Leaders entertained no such belief. 
Thus, certain soldiers were aided by those who came 
from the Spirit-Home. They brought to the warriors 
an energy, and a wild enthusiasm ; which caused them 
to pant for an opportunity to cut down whole battalions 
of opponents ! Once I heard the following words, pro- 
nounced by a spirit who had been a Russian soldier, 
who — by being shot (not down, but) up into the Spirit- 
Home — felt the language wherewith to express his in- 
nate love of Liberty : " We listen, Russia ! for one note 
of harmony from thy places, but we hear the loud roar- 
ing of the practising warrior. Thy soldiers will fail 
thee in battle; their hearts shall beat for the down- 




430 QUESTIONS ON THE OEIGIN 



trodden. Thy officers shall fall in death before thine 
eyes ; and thy cunning shall depart. Russians ! noble- 
men of the north! spurn thy glittering swords, and 
commence the education of thy youth. Ignorance 
lowers heavily o'er thy habitations. Crime hath sealed 
thy despotisms ; hath consigned them to decay." (See 
the exordia in the " Present Age and Inner Life.") 

Have you any different case whereby to illustrate the continuation 
of character ? 

Yes; while residing in the city of Hartford, I was 
visited by a gentleman who came to inquire con- 
cerning spiritual manifestations. He asserted that he 
had not conversed with any one on the subject ; that he 
had heard and read but little concerning it ; but that, 
recently, he had certain very startling experiences which 
troubled him exceedingly. About four weeks ago, after 
retiring for the night, when he knew that no mortal but 
himself and wife was in the room, the door seemed to 
open, and a self-possessed stranger entered. He could 
not discern the features nor the garments of his visitor; 
but, before he had time to spring from his bed, he 
heard his name pronounced in a calm yet penetrative 
voice, and, immediately, the following words were 
spoken : " Provide for thy slaves homes on thy planta- 
tions, give them opportunities to read and write, and 
you shall be happy." On hearing these words he 



AND PERPETUITY OF CHARACTER. 431 

sprang upon the floor, lighted a lamp, but no visitor 

could be found. The door had been unlocked 

Next night, just as he was between sleeping and waking 
— in the dreamv twilight of slumber — the door a^ain 
opened, and in walked the same personage. The same 
words were spoken, and the same disappearance was 
accomplished. After searching the chamber and find- 
ing no one, the gentleman concluded that some aboli- 
tion trick was being played upon him ; he therefore re- 
solved to have a lighted candle, and to remain awake in 
the capacity of private watchman. lie mused a long 
time, when the candle had burned down to the socket, 
and he forgot himself in sleep. The door again opened, 
the same imperturbable personage entered, and the same 
ominous words were slowly but distinctly reiterated. 
The gentleman acknowledged that he owned about two 
hundred and thirty-five slaves; that his possessions em- 
braced two large plantations ; that he was about to 
inherit more slaves and fields ; and that his father and 
grandfather had been extensive slaveholders. Said he : 
1 1 don't understand it ; but as I was coming North, I 
concluded to visit Hartford and obtain your opinion." 
I had some candid conversation with him ; but the 
sequel I cannot now disclose. Now, let the reader re- 
member, that this visitation occurred just three months 



432 QUESTIONS ON THE ORIGIN 

to a day after "Isaac T. Hopper" had entered the 
Spirit-Home ! 

If character is continued into the Spirit-Land, what shall we con- 
clude in the case of Daniel Webster ? 

My answer is, that man's intermediate and superin- 
duced characters are perpetuated, or not, in accordance 
with the progress he has made toward their rectification 
or removal. Daniel Webster's last earthly deed was 
the cause of a rapid alteration in the superficial stratum 
of his character. The Fugitive Slave Law rose up, and 
became a serpent of fire to the people of the Xorth. 
Webster's acquired character went with him into the 
Spirit Home, but his inmost inheritance soon gained 
the ascendancy. Hence, in a speech delivered for the 
friends of the slave, he gave the following exordium : 
"We speak, O ye suffering sons of Africa, from the 
clear shy ; and our voices shall be heard. Mammon 
was the god who first led thee to bondage ; so shall it 
be the god of thy deliverance. We will open the cata- 
logue of national crimes to the world. The nation that 
perpetuates slavery shall become a by-word ; and its 
people be counted odious as Appius Claudius, the 
tyrant of ancient Home, who condemned Virginia as 
a slave ! The people who enslave thee shall prove thy 
eternal benefactors. There is a Law of Justice which 
evermore overcomes evil with good. We will inspire 



AND PERPETUITY OF CHARACTER. 433 

thy masters to worship at the shrine of Justice. This 
is the Great God before whom Mammon shall bow in 
eternal subserviency! The honest man shall rise in 
overawing majesty before the doer of wrong deeds. 
The soil now tilled by enslaved hands, the plants now 
moistened by the tears of suffering exiles, shall yet be 
thine, O sons of Africa, to work in the sunshine of 
gladness, to barter with consumers as thine own. Thou 
shalt become an independent nation! [No amalgama- 
tion, you perceive, and no immediate emancipation, but 
that money is finally to settle the whole question.] This 
shall come [that is the formation of an independent 
nationality] of thy free will and choice ! We will 
bring an overpowering light to all oppressors ; and 
the everywhere Oppressed shall go free." 

As you are now on the question of slavery, and as William Lloyd 
Garrison is a prominent leader in the cause of freedom, will you de- 
lineate his characteristics ? 

Yes ; he is a fine example : the most extraordinary 
political phenomenon. William Lloyd Garrison is the 
only individual who is thoroughly Garrisonized in the 
United States. Let him to-morrow reject the outward 
body, and let all which characterizes and distinguishes 
the man, both inherited and acquired, go on with him 
into the Spirit Home. Now, for the sake of illustra- 
tion, let us be blasphemous enough to imagine — what 
10 



434 QUESTIONS ON THE ORIGIN 

the whole orthodox world accepts as solemn truth — a 
literal hell and a literal heaven ! Picture an orthodox 
elysium on one side, and an orthodox pandemonium on 
the other. Day after to-morrow fancy that this imper- 
turbed Garrison makes an application at the gates of 
Paradise. (I. am illustrating on the supposition that this 
man has not thrown off either his intermediate or super- 
induced characteristics.) Accordingly he knocks at the 
gate, and the gate is opened. The gatekeeper asks: 
"What faith?" The prompt Garrison replies : " 1 be- 
lieve in absolute human freedom ; no fellowship with 
slaveholders" "What religion? — what Church?" in- 
quires the gatekeeper. " There are Catholics, Lu- 
therans, Calvinists, Methodists, Unitarians, Universalists, 
in yonder amphitheatre : to which of these parties do 
you belong ? " " Don't belong to any," returns the 
applicant. "Unconditional emancipation is my doc- 
trine; no union with slaveholders." The astonished 
Peter bows respectfully, and replies: "Walk in §>ir ; 
help yourself to a seat." 

Now William Lloyd Garrison, as I before remarked, 
is a political phenomenon.* lie walks cheerfully 
through the courts of the orthodox Elysium. Seeing 
different sects so comfortably seated, amid a plenitude 

* A psychometric reading of his innate and inherited character 
may be seen in the last pages of this volume. 



AND PERPETUITY OF CHARACTER. 435 

of splendors, lie feels very much interested. Although 
not particularly pleased with the several heavenly di- 
visions, yet he says nothing — seeing a kind of conceded 
difference among them without misunderstandings or 
dispute. lie spends many pleasant hours in a prome- 
nade of observation ; for he has the liberty of the 
domain. Presently, he approaches one of the moun- 
tainous walls, lined with that metal which is so con- 
genial to utilitarians, and perceives a mass of fleecy, 
interlined, and interfused clouds: something dark, 
smoky, curling up, and sulphurous ! It seems to have 
"torment" in it; it don't smell like the fragrance of 
Freedom. These repulsive nebula seem to emanate 
from an empire of immense depth and magnitude. 
The penetrative Garrison draws closer, and, scorning to 
notice that the wall is of solid gold, he climbs inde- 
pendently up, looks over, and beholds an orthodox hell 
thickly -populated ! One such vision is enough. lie 
turns back to look upon the thinly-populated orthodox 
heaven. What are the sects all about? Oh, they are 
all looking at the orthodox god ; the lower part of 
whose face is bathed with eternal sunshine, while the 
brow seems circled with frowns and with condemna- 
tory thoughts in number beyond computation. The 
fearless Garrison readily apprehends the ecclesiastical 
conditions. He turns firmly and respectfully toward 



436 QUESTIONS ON THE ORIGIN 

the orthodox god, and inquires, first, whether the plat- 
form is free to all f — second, whether a speech from 
him would be considered out of order ? After consid- 
erable consultation among the chief rulers, be is in- 
formed that, by standing on one of the steps leading to 
the Throne, and preserving himself free from any per- 
sonalities, he might address the religious audience ! . 
. . . Just picture to your minds this man, Garrison 
— with his positive hereditary character, united to his 
acquired political and anti-slavery characteristics — 
standing up, alone and unaided, to address such a 
peculiar aristocratic congregation! No; I will not 
attempt to imagine a word he might utter. But I 
venture to assert that he would kindle a red-hot fire of 
purely moral adjectives, which would burn and blister 
the lukewarm devotees, until each would feel as if the 
kingdom of heaven was on the very point of political 
disunion and ecclesiastical decomposition ! Calmly he 
rebukes them for their indolence, and deplores tlieir 
un acquaintance with the urgent demands of Humanity. 
Most earnestly he points to the neighboring land of 
blackness, in which unutterable suffering and slavery 
abounds, and fearlessly tells them that they are unpar- 
donubly recreant to every obvious principle of human 
happiness. Sitting there day after day, cherishing self- 
ish sympathies for each other, apparently unmindful 



AND PERPETUITY OF CHARACTER. 437 

of the fact that millions are suffering every instant of 
time! 

Well : the speech is delivered, and the speaker is 
unable to perceive the first appearance of sympathy. 
Observing which he proceeds to the gatekeeper, and 
says : " Let me ont into freedom ; I find no sympathy 
here." 

But where, think you, would duty lead this man ? 

I will tell you : With his characteristics, duty would 
direct him to go on a mission of mercy to the population 
of the orthodox pandemonium. There, doubtless, he 
would find a free platform ! Seconded by minds whom 
he had somewhat Garrisonized, he would, in three days, 
institute an Anti-IIell-fire Society ! Yes, this candid 
man is so full of organic liberty and of " no union with 
slaveholders," that he would fix minute-men all along 
the track ; and, methinks, I do not exaggerate when I 
say that, in three days from the time of his first speech 
in Pandemonium, there would be a fine- working under- 
ground railroad all the way up to the Kingdom of 
Heaven ! 

In all the foregoing- you have employed an unallowable supposition : 
wiil you not describe his characteristics through a natural hypothesis ? 

Without indulging any unnatural hypothesis, then, I 

can assure yon that, should Mr. Garrison go to the Spirit 

Home, he would be interested in the scheme of universal 



438 QUESTIONS ON THE ORIGIN 

anti-slavery ; and certain individuals at the South, 
although without interest in Spiritualism, would surely 
receive man} 7 troublesome dreams and waking forebod- 
ings. 

Would the New -England Yankee's character be perpetuated ? 

Nothing can be more certain. It hath been said that, 
if the real genuine Yankee was cast away on a desert 
island, he would, on the next morning, amuse himself 
by selling maps to the inhabitants ! Suppose a utilitar- 
ian man should enter the Spirit Home, do you imagine 
that he would be long in acquiring the art of moving a 
chair or the whole baggage-train of spiritual manifesta- 
tions ? 

Are natural characteristics perpetuated into the Spirit Home ? 

Yes ; for example, the true native Irishman does not 
lose, in this life, any of his national or individual 
peculiarities. The Irish race is continued into the 
Spirit World. So w T ith the Germanic, and the French, 
and the different races; they preserve a momentum; 
and, for many periods, continue to run the race of a 
national progression. Ultimately, however, by a closer 
approximation of tendencies and interchange of sympa- 
thies, all overarched and beautified by system, the 
divergent races begin to converge and assimilate, where- 
upon the acquired characteristics are dropped, then the 
parental characteristics are dropped ; and, lastly, there 



AND PERPETUITY OF CHARACTER. 430 

alone shines forth the innate and beautiful, the divine 
and celestial character which was derived from Father- 
God and Mother-Nature. But I heard of the case of an 
Irishman who had carried into the Spirit Home both his 
acquired and his constitutional wit. At a circle he was 
very civilly asked respecting his nativity, and he replied : 
" I was born on the corner of West Broadway and Lispen- 
ard street, while my mother was travelling in Europe ! " 
Thus, the mass of mankind resemble the home, the 
institution, or nation, from which they emanate. Some 
children, the moment they meet their street-companions 
will indicate the last conversation heard at the table. 
Insensibly to itself the outside character gets formed, 
deformed, or reformed. The spirit of condemnation — 
this practice of giving one man credit as "good" and 
denouncing another as " evil " — condemning the " war- 
rior" and praising the "peaceman" — condemning the 
soul of the " Spanish Inquisitor " and holding up the 
beautiful character of "William Penir' — will vanish 
when men come to apprehend and comprehend that the 
human spirit is compelled to act out its inherited charac- 
ter. It is beautiful to contemplate the character of the 
peaceful William Penn ; but the inmost spirit of the 
Spanish Inquisitor is just as peace-loving and beautiful ! 
Nay, do not refuse to be harmonially Democratic;. 
When you have the happiness to obtain a broad view of 



440 QUESTIONS ON THE ORIGIN 

humanity you will aid to prevent individual discord — 
not by condemnation, not by methods and measures 
which exasperate and excite and madden and mortify, 
but by lifting up, drawing out, and eliminating the 
divine " character " which is the inmost and the imper- 
ishable. 

In the case of William Penn, or of any good and truth-loving 
person, is there not some manifestation of the inmost Character ? 

Most persons exhibit the character which they have 
derived from their immediate progenitors, first ; and, in 
all their after-years, they show out the character which 
they acquired during the periods of childhood and 
adolescence ; but very few there are, the inter-and-super- 
structures of whose character are transparent and plastic 
enough to reveal the form of the divine linage. There 
is now and then a temperamental conformation which 
affords an opportunity for the innermost to express and 
delineate itself by means of interlineation and open 
deeds, between the interstices of the acquired and 
inherited characters. Occasionally, we meet minds 
showing traits of the divine and celestial through the 
little chinks, so to speak, through the orifices and aper- 
tures and nooks of superficial character ; and we 
rejoice exceedingly, in the midst of existing dissipation 
and discord and imperfection, that human nature can 
manifest goodness and truthfulness which are ever 



AND PERPETUITY OF CHARACTER. 441 

beautiful and admirable. Once I stood by a bank of 
plants which would bear flowers. By some freak of 
workmen the great door of a barn was thrown upon 
those rose-bearing plants ; they were crushed to earth, 
and withered beneath the ponderous weight. Fortun- 
ately, however, there were three or four Jcnot-holes in 
that door, and, in due course of season, three or four 
flowers came struggling up through those openings : 
and so presented themselves to the world crippled, 
deformed, yet beautiful. Now, do you not see what 
Society does? It throws itself, with its ponderous 
weight of formalities, upon the babe as soon as it is 
born. Then the Church and the State combine to 
mould aud fashion the individual into their ima^e and 
likeness. But, as in the comparison, there arc some 
holes in Society — desperate and deadly holes also both 
in Church and State — through which man's native ^ood- 
ness and integrity come out into beautiful blooming! 
Also, through the characteristics inherited perhaps from 
mismated progenitors, somewhat of the divine bequeath- 
ment shines out: especially, when there exists an 
adequate cause to awaken and elicit it. Hence, in the 
lowest condition of man, there are some glimmerings of 
the Divine. Look within thee, O man, and behold the 
imperishable ! The best Idea of thy divine progenitors 

is there ; the inmost, the harmonial, and the everlasting- 
19* 



442 QUESTIONS ON THE ORIGIN 

Thou art master of, and will ultimately conquer, that 
which was inherited from thy father and mother; also, 
everything acquired by contact with Society, the State, 
or the Church. Take courage, therefore, O man, and 
believe that, by coming together, shaking eacli other's 
hands, putting shoulder to shoulder and spirit to spirit, 
for the purpose of abolishing discordant characteristics, 
thou wilt receive heavenly assistance from the inhabi- 
tants of other Spheres. 

Will you not state more in detail your impressions regarding' the 
reformation of character ? 

Character, I reiterate, is that through which your 
spirit is forced to express itself. If you desire mental 
improvement, then improve your mental types and 
symbols. Obtain a knowledge of good works and deeds, 
as tools, with which to think ; for all your thoughts will 
take the shape of your language; the same as water 
takes the shape of the drinking glass or containing 
vessels. Yes ; your thoughts are fluid, and will take 
the shape of your words. Therefore, let the utilitarian 
furniture of your mind be put in order. This furniture 
consists of thoughts, and the words wherewith your 
mind declareth itself; a pure spirit seeketh a well- 
furnished residence. This is the first lesson of a har- 
inonial reform of private character. Do this, by means 
of co-operative effort, and both your acquired and 



AND PERPETUITY OF CHARACTER. 443 

inherited characters will rapidly grow threadbare — 
permitting the immortal to bloom out full of fragrance. 
The superficial character, which good minds abhor, 
resembleth the rust on iron. Man is born into society. 
Society corrodes and oxidizes his surface ; but glimmer- 
ings of the inward nature are occasionally seen through 
the exterior corroding. His neighbors chafe and irritate 
him, and thus certain temperaments find that they have 
self-power to rub this rust away. Such minds master 
one set of circumstances, then another yet more positive. 
Here beginneth a grand lesson of individual responsibil- 
ity ; the knowledge that you are a Power, not a circum- 
stance. True, you are a circumstance at first, and you 
feel yourself helpless in the presence of surroundings. 
But one day you discover that a certain class of circum- 
stances are not your masters, but, instead, that you have 
the power to surround and conquer ! Yes ; it is true, 
that influences and habits which are considered by an 
ignorant man to be his masters, are in reality not at all 
above the jurisdiction of his reason or will. Give a 
man confidence in himself, that he hath an inward 
character, and he will forthwith commence the work of 
reform and self -purification. Society and bad habits 
have superinduced rust upon thy mind. Begin now : 
rub it off by the friction of will. Oh, it giveth hope 
and gladuess and strength to know that this external 






444 QUESTIONS ON CHARACTER. 

character, which does not declare the spirit, is like the 
stinging burr surrounding the concealed chestnut. The 
time cometh when the burr is sundered and falleth away, 
and the sweet meat of the chestnut is visible. But if 
the chestnut be carelessly handled, before the arrival of 
this time, the multitudinous thorns on the burr will 
inflict irritation and surfacial wounds. Thus there are 
persons so coated-over and hedged in, by various ac- 
quired mental habits, that they severely wound those 
in contact with them ; indeed, such temperaments may 
be compared to the sting and irritability produced by 
handling the thorns of a chestnut burr. The time 
certainly comes, I repeat, when this acquired character 
drops off ! Man's external characteristics resemble the 
caterpillar which envelops the butterfly. Hope for 
every one is based upon this fact : that all imperfections 
of both the external and the inherited characters are 
ultimately to be mastered and eradicated ; so that not 
even a vestige of them shall remain to interfere with 
the future happiness of the immortal mind ! Notwith- 
standing which each individual will differ everlastingly 
from every other individual. There is no one type prop- 
er to all mankind. You will be developed, therefore, in 
the likeness and image of your own interior character, 
bequeathed ante-natally by Father-God and Mother 
Nature ! 



QUESTIONS ON THE 
BENEFITS AND PENALTIES OF INDIVIDUALISM. 



I begin with the affirmation that, by virtue of corre- 
spondential or analogical reasoning, the facts of mechan- 
ism may be seen reproduced in the operations of the 
human mind. In mechanical laws, we notice a double 
tendency : one from the outside to the internal — centri- 
petalism ; the other from the centre outwardly — centri- 
fugalism : between these dual forces, all bodies revolve 
upon their respective axes. Even so, in the operations 
of the human mind, we observe two corresponding 
motions. While the soul manifests a tendency to fly 
from its own centre, it exhibits no less the contrary 
motion. In fact, the soul experiences the most positive 
attraction toward its own integral substance. There- 
fore, I would say : man is organized for centralization. 
He cannot fly from this pivotal Innermost : on this rests 
the whole science of individualism. Individualism is 
the science of centralization ; the law of mental mechan- 
ics ; the doctrine of fidelity between orb and orbit ; the 
philosophy of harmonial relations between centre and 
circumference. 



446 QUESTIONS ON THE BENEFITS 

If it be true that man's mind is more interested in itself than in 
others, is he not a selfish and egotistic being ? 

Let me consider. . . Although the method is some- 
what invidious, yet it may be stated and adopted that 
man, in a certain sense, is - a being of simple and com- 
pound selfishness ; that is to say, whenever he acts, he 
acts from and to his own centre of revolution. He can 
do nothing, except through the centre of his own individ- 
ual soul. When the mind exhibits a constant tendency 
toward the welfare of its own consciousness — regardless 
of the rights, and liberties, and individual welfare, of 
others — we then term it " selfishness," on the lowest 
plane of individualism. Such a mind is circumscribed, 
and needs expansion — needs to exercise more fidelity to 
the law of centrifugalism. It wabbles and hobbles 
around its orbit, like a wheel without relation or propor- 
tion. 

Is it not natural for humanity to dislike and repel a purely selfish 
character ? 

Yes ; a selfish person is universally detested by 
Humanity. This species of selfishness is the character- 
istic of undeveloped minds ; a living sponge which 
absorbs every fluid or liquid near it ; a maelstrom which 
draws to itself each contiguous object ; a parsimonious 
desert which drinks greedily the April showers and 
morning dews, without returning so much as a blade 






AND PENALTIES OF INDIVIDUALISM. 447 

of grass ill gratitude — all these are more tolerable to 
contemplate than a " selfish " character. The inevit- 
able cupidity of such selfishness — the violence it does to 
our sense of individual harmony — renders the condition 
transcendently repulsive. 

According to your foregone definition, there must be a better 
selfishness : how would you describe it ? 

Yes ; there is another form of selfishness, which is 
transcendently admirable. What is that form ? It is 
the individualism of a human being manifested, like a 
fountain, from itself toward the circumference. Oh, 
there is grandeur in that ! Pause, and contemplate a 
human soul extending its orbit to the boundaries of 
Humanity ! The centre expands — in consequence of 
its generous exertions to spread its consciousness — over 
the whole circumference of interest. This is the high- 
est form of selfishness ; an identification of the individ- 
ual with the whole. Some characters are so lai\?:e and 
divine, that nothing less than the happiness of the 
universe can satisfy their selfishness. 

Is it not natural for humanity to love and attract a purely benevo- 
lent character ? 

It is very natural. Before such natures we reverent- 
ly bow — praying to realize their strong embrace — to be 
lifted up by their boundless love — to be sustained by 
the giant arms of such masterly minds. Some Jesus is 



448 QUESTIONS ON THE BENEFITS 

born unto us ; after his death we build altars, and bend 
in adoration to attributes so God-like. Perhaps, how- 
ever, in the hours wasted in yielding homage to another, 
we impair and measurably sacrifice our own individual- 
ism. In admiring the greatness and goodness of others, 
in adoration without aspiration, we debilitate and crip- 
ple the attributes of self-development. Here cometh 
the explanation which we seek : the reason why there 
are so few individualized men and women in the 
world. Men lose their best individuality and indepen- 
dence by an ignorant admiration of these manifestations 
in others. 

In the English language there are two words, spelled and pro- 
nounced nearly alike, viz. , ' ' egotism " and ' ' egoism " — will you ex- 
plain the difference between them ? 

Yes ; " egotism " is the term which I apply to persons 
who exhibit the first and lowest form of selfishness ; 
but, to the last and best form of selfishness, the word 
" egoism " is strictly applicable. Egotism is a true la- 
bel for minds who place themselves superciliously and 
pedantically first and foremost in a matter — who use 
the personal pronoun " I " in great abundance, as if 
everything and everybody were secondary and subor- 
dinated. On one occasion I received a letter from a 
person of this description, covering three sides of a com- 
mon sheet, with no less than one hundred and sixteen 



AND PENALTIES OF INDIVIDUALISM. 449 

" I'a " in it — many of them emphasized — as if the writer 
stood between the earth and the sun, allowing the light 
of the latter to shine through his egotism as best it 
might ! But, on the other hand, to the feeling of self- 
hood — to the relations realizable between individualism 
and the world without — we may apply the other word, 
" egoism," with the strictest propriety. Egoism is the 
truest form of individuality. The egoist is one who 
realizes the whole world through — and only through — 
the centre of his own being. The senses are channels 
leading to that centre. The centre is the seat of mo- 
tion ; the axis on which the soul revolves in its orbit. 
Egotism is the viper : egoism is the man. Between 
these may be found all forms and gradations of human 
character. 

Has there not always existed a conflict between individual man 
and individual institutions ? 

Yes ; mankind have contended for supremacy on one 
side, and institutions have claimed exclusive control on 
the other. Institutions, although man-made and essen- 
tially arbitrary, have ever arrogated to themselves the 
right to rule the individual. And as it sometimes hap- 
pens that the Individual openly ignores the right and 
supremacy of the Institution, so do we behold institu- 
tional attempts, by means of gibbet, rack, and fagot, to 
bring the traitor into subjection and perpetual dishonor. 



450 QUESTIONS ON THE BENEFITS 

All political and ecclesiastical governments Lave been 
based upon this theory, viz. : the innate disqualification 
of the individual for self-regulation, and hence the 
necessity of institutional laws. AVhen Jesus asserted 
the supremacy of the individual, by his own life and 
teachings, the Roman Government considered him a 
traitor and a conspirator ; and so the old Romans main- 
tained the affirmed dignity and alleged superiority of 
the Institution by forcibly putting him through the 
sepulchre into the World of Spirits. 

Is it not true that Thomas Paine was also a conspirator ? 

He was. When Thomas Paine asserted the suprem- 
acy of the people of America to the English Govern- 
ment, or to any government whatsoever, that country 
entertained the warmest hatred toward him, and would 
have gloried in his physical apprehension and destruc- 
tion. 

Was he thus sought out and destroyed ? 

ISTo ; on the contrary, " The Rights of Man " prevailed 
over the wrongs of Government, over the prejudice of 
Tories ; and Thomas Paine was read and honored by the 
lovers of Liberty. Having had his soul roused by a 
contemplation of the rights of man over and above in- 
stitutional laws, he ventured subsequently to investigate 
and to direct his attention, indorsed by a manifest love 



AND PENALTIES OF INDIVIDUALISM. 451 

of Justice, toward man's bondage to ecclesiastical or- 
ganisms and religious dogmas. Like a man who re- 
spected his individuality, he made investigations into 
the causes of theological usurpation, and freely — per- 
haps too freely — declared to America his discoveries 
and his consequent opposition; but America now, and 
mainly for this reason, disliked and repelled him as cor- 
dially as before he was denounced and opposed by Eng- 
land. He desired simply to free the individual; but 
the ignorant supporters of institutions could reply only 
through denunciation and scorn. He realized and pro- 
claimed the natural supremacy of man to all political 
and ecclesiastical organizations — his superiority to all 
churches and creeds — and hence, like a man thus illumi- 
nated (and not unlike the intrepid Jesus in the utterance 
of his honest convictions), he boldly and unqualifiedly 
presented his remonstrance to the world — accompanied 
with a collection of stupendous " Reasons, " which (bo 
it ever remembered) have been sneered at and despite- 
fully used by the supporters of institutions, but never 
intelligently refuted or in any manner proved to be es- 
sentially unsound. 

"What would you propose to do in honor of Thomas Paine, for his 
defence of Human Rights ? 

Let me reflect We have already too many saints ; 

else I would propose the immediate canonization of 



452 QUESTIONS ON THE BENEFITS 

Thomas Paine. He may have said and committed a 
thousand foolish things, and so have all saints ; may 
have, in his impatience, wounded the sickly-sentimental 
piety of honestly-prejudiced and impious persons; but, 
notwithstanding all, his noble defence of man's sover- 
eignty — his unqualified announcement of the intrinsic 
inferiority of all institutions to man — covers a multitude 
of sins (or slanders), and renders him as worthy of a 
place in the " calendar of saints" as any humanitarian 
of past times. Saints of past times were appendages of 
institutions — were advocates of the supremacy of civil 
and religious laws, over the rights and liberties of Indi- 
vidual Man. But Thomas Paine, unlike saints, was a 
citizen of the world — an advocate of the sovereignty of 
the soul — and should therefore be called " Saint Thomas" 
instead of those blasphemous titles given him by the 
Church. And yet, I would not blaspheme nor willingly 
dishonor the memory of Thomas Paine : therefore, I 
refuse further to stigmatize his character by attaching 
the word " saint " to any portion of it. Yes, he was su- 
perior to a saint ! "Why so ? Because he was a defender 
of the Eights of Man ; while saints, on the contrary, 
are foes of individualism, and defenders of the faith. 
They endeavor to anathematize independent manhood 
in this life, and to fix its damnation throughout 
eternity. 



AND PENALTIES OF INDIVIDUALISM. 453 

Suppose Mankind should yield to the requirements of Institutions, 
what would follow ? 

The answer is plain. In proportion as minds yield 
individual supremacy to the Church or State, they give 
themselves up to the encroachments of slavery and to 
its multifarious degradations. Institutions combine and 
conspire against individual freedom ; and men, so long 
accustomed to vassalage, yield themselves conscien- 
tiously to perpetuate the iniquity. For example : the 
political Institutions of America deemed it expedient 
to legislate and enforce a Fugitive-Slave Law. This 
law commands those in bondage to remain so, under the 
penalty of being captured and punished for every viola- 
tion. And each man in the Free States is appointed by 
government as a sheriff, with power to arrest the flying 
fugitive, and consign him to the control and management 
of his master. But suppose I believe that a man's 
rights and a man's liberties, irrespective of complexion, 
are first, and foremost, and supreme ; furthermore, sup- 
pose I believe the Church and State, and all other insti- 
tutions, to be secondary and intrinsically inferior to the 
prerogatives of the individual ; and suppose, also, that 
the Church preaches submission to civil laws, and that 
the State commands me to live and act in subordination 
to its decrees — I ask, " What must I do ? Shall I sacri- 
fice my soul on the altar of an institution ? " Oh, Reli- 



454 



QUESTIONS ON THE BENEF!: 



gion of Justice, forbid it ! My course is plain before 

me: I would obey my soul's highest perceptions of 

Riffht, although the State mi^ht burn me with green 

fagots as Calvin did Servetus ! 

Would you not at this point receive some of the penalties of indi- 
vidualism ? 

Yes ; but these penalties are positive benefits, and of 
high service. See ! I stand in friendship with my own 
central consciousness ! I have helped a fugitive to gain 
individual freedom. Therefore, before the omnipresent 
bar of my Father-God, I stand acquitted of all crime ; 
and more, I am deeply and substantially rewarded for 
doing a deed of goodness for my brother ! 

What kind of reward is that which you thus receive ? 

My reward consisteth in the building up and confirm- 
ation of my individualism, which giveth me — 

" Light and strength to bear 
My portion of the weight of care 
That crushes into dumb despair 
One-half the human race ! " 

And, besides, the benefits come out at another point : 
I am not individually lost in a mischievous institution ; 
I am not destroyed, as a ship is swallowed, in the recog- 
nized maelstrom ! Great men, and the so-called wise, 
around me, are supporters of organizations : they stand 
in the midst of evils, and have, therefore, no power to 
discern them ; while I rest unperturbed on the firm 



AND PENALTIES OF INDIVIDUALISM. 455 

basis of my own God-inherited interior spirit, worship- 
ping Truth, Justice, and Harmony, through the func- 
tions and portals of my individual existence. 

But, in the midst of these internal benefits, do yon not experience 
outward penalties ? 

Yes ; the outward penalties, though negative and 
transitory, tread hard upon the heels of these perma- 
nent benefits. They occupy the battle-ground of my 
worldly relations. Instead of smiles, I meet sneers. 
Stones are given for bread. Old friends withdraw their 
friendship. They pity my fantastic zeal, and smile con- 
temptuously. But I would join Paul, conferring " not 
with flesh or blood." They think and treat my family 
as unworthy of usual respect ; although they may, from 
habits of duty, try to entertain philanthropic sentiments. 
In my business relations I am assailed at every assail- 
able point. Old customers leave me very fast; new 
ones, even with less reputation, come very slow. At 
school, my cherished ones are pointed at. The orthodox 
minister's children — echoing what they hear at their 
home respecting me — hoot scornfully at mine. And 
thus my wife, with a conservative mind, is roused to the 
horrors of my unpopularity. She seriously prays for 
deliverance; perhaps she contemplates divorce. Her 
relatives combine with her, and my prudential friends 
unite, to augment the opposition. Every other mail 



456 QUESTIONS ON THE BENEFITS 

brings me advisory letters from very honorable uncles, 
and reproving messages from religious, time-serving, 
and respectable aunts. The minister frowns upon mo : 
therefore, my church -going wife ; therefore, my worldly 
children. Like Roger Williams, I must seek some spot 
of Liberty, or be forever buried in the tomb of popular 
Institutions. Like the brave Huguenots, I must quit 
the presence of my foes, or be crushed beneath their 
overmastering weight. Like Madame Roland, I must 
respect my soul, and die ; or, like Galileo, prudentially 
confess Truth to be an error, and live an ignominious 
life ! 

Suppose you do, from prudential reasons, live in harmony with 
prevailing Institutions : where will you go to find an instance of 
greater strength ? 

This question is hard to answer. If I am not true to 

my own centralization of consciousness — if I honor not 

my own orb and orbit — where can I expect to find what 

I fail to revere in myself ? Shall I find it in Jesus, in 

John, or in Paul? If so, then must I also seek and find 

it, as they did, in the science of individualism. If I 

spend my time in acts of devotion to the memory of 

these individuals, then will I weaken or neglect -my own 

jpower to be as they were. In the most interior closet 

of their own souls, these men prayed to the God whom 

they could realize. So also must I pray to that God 



AND PENALTIES OF INDIVIDUALISM. 457 

•whom I can realize. I must be strengthened in my per- 
sonal progression ; I must aim equally after political and 
religious emancipation ; I must learn, as it were by heart, 
the Law of Liberty. In body and in soul I must de- 
velop to the fulness of the stature of a perfect Man ! 

Is there not a period, in the life of every one, when the soul is 
called to decide whether it will be a master or a slave ? 

Yes ; every kind of situation, and all species of cir- 
cumstances, bring the high and low alike to this experi- 
ence : the mechanic, wdiether he will be a boss or a 
workman ; the tradesman, whether he w T ill be a mer- 
chant or a salesman ; the student, whether he w T ill be a 
public man or a private artisan ; the printer, whether he 
will be an editor or "follow copy ; " the husband, whether 
he shall assume the reins of family government ; the wife, 
whether she will be a convenience or a companion. 

In true individualism is there any necessary antagonism ? 

I think not. The motto is, " Let each one be all he 
can, for the benefit of the whole." It is true that indi- 
vidual currents may encounter and cross each other's 
paths — as the planets and the comets waltz through each 
other's orbits ; but, with cultured persons, there is in 
this no infringement, no unwelcome or evil discord. 
Say to the torrent: " Stop in the midst of yon mountain ; 

because, should you flow down as you wish, you will up- 
20 



458 QUESTIONS ON THE BENEFITS 

root the trees of the valley." The torrent will answer : 
I must obey the law of my nature." 

Does Mother-Nature wish every individual to remain true to him- 
self? 

Yes ; although there is a constant divergence and a 
convergence — a perpetual centripetalism and a centrifu- 
galism — in the daily operation of individual souls — yet, 
steadily does Mother-Nature defend each against every 
other, and maintain a sort of police regulation and juris- 
diction in her every department. "Nothing is more 
marked," says a writer, " than the power by which indi- 
viduals are guarded from individuals." This is a world 
" where every benefactor becomes easily a malefactor, 
merely by a continuation of his activity into places 
where it is not due." Thus, the pleasurable warmth of 
the body might be continued into a fever ; or, the kind- 
ness of an unwise friend could be prolonged and exten- 
ded out into cruelty. All things are blessings only as 
they come and go when needed. 

Should a man guard his Individualism against the magnetical 
influence of Institutionalism ? 

Certainly. If I were to state this matter commer- 
cially, I would ask : " Does it profit a man to sell Ids 
soul for popularity f " If he shall gain the whole 
world, and lose his own soul (its individualism), how can 
he be profited? What shall a man give in exchange 



AND PENALTIES OF INDIVIDUALISM. 459 

for his soul ? In other words : " What is there in the 
world more valuable than Manhood to a Man, or 
Womanhood to a "Woman ? " The "World answers, 
" Nothing ! " And yet, behold the universal practice of 
distrusting and crucifying the Individual ! Before the 
gods mankind bow — yielding adoration to mythological 
idols — to the dishonoring and degradation of his own 

O CD 

individuality. 

Man has been taught to distrust himself, and to extol the virtues 
of invisible beings : is this wrong ? 

All exaggeration, I reiterate, is injustice. Ignorant 
of his nature, and ignorant not less of the mass of idola- 
try predicated upon it, man habitually does an injustice 
to himself (in his religious systems), by encouraging 
the development of extravagant conceptions of divine 
personalities. The institution of the Trinity has well- 
nigh absorbed the individual Unity of man. Man can- 
not afford to take from himself and give to gods. No : 
he is himself in need of all the veneration which he 
bestows on supposed divinities. lie needs all the time 
and all the talents for purposes of personal development, 
which, with such imbecile prodigalit}^, he consecrates to 
the wealthy Upper Circles of Love and "Wisdom. The 
rights of men, in all systems of religion, are buried in 
the rights of God. 



460 QUESTIONS ON THE BENEFITS 

But man is really very insignificant : what is man, but a drop in 
the bucket ? 

True ; bat the ocean is composed of lesser oceans — as 
the heart of little hearts, and the brain of lesser brains. 
Does not this fact demonstrate the importance of the 
least to the existence of the greatest ? Yea, I urge the 
proposition — that all thought which is expended in 
magnifying theological abstractions, is just so much 
subtracted from the valuation and welfare of human 
beings. You purloin from your own divinely-inherited 
character, and give to self -ad miring gods, who have, 
consequently, no need of your generosity or adoration. 
Transitional and impractical minds frequently employ 
themselves, in profoundest seriousness, by grotesquely 
and uselessly magnifying the attributes and works of 
their favorite deities. These minds render the invisible 
so boundless and all-important," that Man is almost 
utterly lost sight of — is pronounced as insignificant — 
as an infinitesimal portion of the Infinite Whole — the 
soul to be swallowed up eventually by the great Ocean 
of Life whence all things flow. Yes, the fact cannot 
be concealed, that men first create gods; that the pro- 
cess of creation subsequently changes hands; and lastly, 
that gods make men. Innumerable religious errors, I 
repeat, have taken their rise from these false exaggera- 
tions. Absurdities, insufferably crude and barbarously 
despotic, can claim no other parentage. 



AND PENALTIES OF INDIVIDUALISM. 461 

What do you consider to be the most hurtful effect of these 
exaggerations ? 

The most prominent of all religions despotisms — 
growing ont of human exaggerations of the divine, and 
consequent diminutions of the human — is, the concession 
to gods of all rights and all liberties, and the permission 
or granting to man a residuum of duties and obligations. 
Man, according to such religions, can never feel free of 
debt. lie is a slave ! His life is permitted or intrusted 
to him. lie must work for the mythologic Master ! 
This, in plain words, is a religious despotism. It 
neutralizes and absorbs the individualism of man. It 
seeks to impart propensities toward servility. It takes 
from him the proprietorship of an inward power, on 
which alone he can unfurl the banner of Liberty. 
Deplorably true is it that the individuality and sover- 
eignty of men are almost irretrievably lost in these false 
exaggerations of the individuality and sovereignty of 
gods. Man first makes an all-absorbing Idol ; then, in 
ten generations, he forgets that he made it ; then he 
puts into tradition that it (the Idol) existed from all 
eternity ; then he teaches, or pays men to teach, his 
convictions to his children ; and, lastly, succeeds in 
establishing a superstitious theory of divine government. 
And why % Because his belief has crushed out almost 
all the individualism of his own spirit. By a harness 



462 QUESTIONS ON THE BENEFITS 

of iron and traces of steel, the real creature is attached 
to the inquisitorial car of the fabulous Creator. 

Did the doctrine of " duty " arise from the concession of rights to 
the gods ? 

Yes : the phantom of " Duty " stands ever near, with 
upraised lash, to whip the devotee through the countless 
vicissitudes of a rudimental existence. The Iiomanish 
system permits its popes, its bishops, its priests, and the 
catalogue of saints, to participate more or less in 
heavenly rights and liberties, which rights and liberties 
are denied to common men. But Protestantism, being 
an improvement, permits the universal diffusion of these 
rights. It teaches each man to consider himself a cen- 
tre of political privileges ; that he may exercise private 
conscience on questions of religion ; that, in prayer, he 
may hold a private correspondence with Heaven; that, 
in the sphere of his own free will, he can and does 
maintain certain private moral business relations of 
"profit and loss" with the Divine Being. And yet, 
these two systems of religion are predicated upon equally 
false exaggerations of the gods — the Trinity. 

How can you sustain this assertion ? 

By the fact that both systems, in considering human 
relations to God, are alike in diminishing man's individ- 
ualism. In these conscientious variations, from the line 
of Truth, lie all the pernicious mistakes of theologians. 



AND PENALTIES OF INDIVIDUALISM. 463 

The rights which they theologically concede to man, are 
not regarded as integral, h\\t permitted only, by the sys- 
tem of government which God has seen fit to adopt for 
the regulation of his creatures. Free will and liberties 
are lent to man, if I may so say, as an experiment on 
the part of the gods — to see what he will do, and where 
he will go, by the use which he makes of them — 
whether to heaven, or to hell. Now, I affirm all this to 
be the most unwholesome form of theology. Man can 
never grow into true manhood under it ; no more than 
can a Southern slave grow wealthy by picking cotton 
during a long life for an indolent planter. I know of 
no religious system which conceives that man has con- 
stitutional rights and integral liberties — independent 
of all grants or privileges, lets or hindrances, of an ar- 
bitrary character. And, therefore, the Harmon ial Phil- 
osophy, which affirms man to be an organization of es- 
sences and elements — imparting rights and liberties of 
their own — is in direct antagonism to all systems of the- 
ology, and to all popular forms of religious worship. 
Hence it freely declareth itself to be the friend of 
Truth; the exponent and promoter of the interests of 
Humanity. 

Are declarations of individualism daily multiplying ? 

Yes ; and the influence of Institutions is daily dimin- 
ishing. Man has gradually approached the centre of 



4:04: QUESTIONS ON THE BENEFITS 

gravity ; and the times are pregnant with promise, that 
each may become a law unto himself. In every depart- 
ment of society we need more individualism. There is 
now too much sameness ; the monotony is irksome ; we 
almost see the uniformity of imbecility. Farmers, for 
instance, should be more individualized. It is to some 
extent true that their position bestows upon them social 
independence. But is it not sad to behold the mental 
sameness throughout ? The son laying stone-walls and 
digging ditches just as his father and grandfather did 
before him ! The same old plan of haymaking. The 
barns and outhouses have no new departments. Cattle 
are kept through the seasons as they were a century 
ago. The treatment of lowlands is little better than 
when the first farmer began. And yet, we stand on the 
brink of a utilitarian improvement in the science of 
Agriculture. The river .of Progress rolls majestically 
before the young farmer's vision ; and now comes the 
question, " Who will be the Columbus of this new voy- 
age ? " The general success of all European farmers — 
the recent development of agricultural machinery — the 
spirit of progress exhibited by Western earth- workers — 
all, fixes a foundation for the realization of ambitious 
hopes in this direction. 

Have we also promises of more individualism in the medical world ? 

Yes ; and I will tell why it must come. Although 



AND PENALTIES OF INDIVIDUALISM. 465 

the troop of candidates for the regular profession is 
large, absorbing some of our best young men, yet the 
confidence of the mass of the people is being daily 
taken from drugs, and placed upon obedience to the 
Laws of Nature. Hence, all manner of medical indi- 
vidualism is being, and must continue to be, developed. 
Men and women, independently, are entering the field 
of Medical Reform. Each reiterates this gospel : 
" Health consists in obedience to Physiological and 
Mental Laws." Clairvoyance has done much toward 
spreading man's faith in the philosophy of getting well 
under the influence of simple remedies. Therefore, 
men may cherish much hope that the Laws of Health 
will one day concern the world more than the astrologi- 
cal science of curing Disease. 

Does individualism appear among* editors of newspapers and con- 
ductors of periodicals ? 

I cannot give the most desirable answer. Political 

antagonism has crushed hundreds of editors beneath the 

weight of party restrictions. Kow and then, however, 

there cometh a man from the political institutions, who 

holds up his head, swings his own arms, thinks and 

writes his own thoughts, publishes his own " Chronotype" 

or mounts his own " Tribune," pronouncing "pro and 

con " on prevailing things and ideas, and at length is 

heard no more. 
20* 



4:G6 QUESTIONS ON THE BENEFITS 

Do people in general appreciate the penalties of individualism ? 

No ; the penalties of individual independence are un- 
known to those who have not had the womanhood or 
the manhood to make a declaration. Of course, hy 
" independence," I am not understood to mean a burly, 
swaggering, defiant opposition to established customs; 
nor yet am I apprehended to mean a foolish, egotistic 
pride of being unlike others, which indicates a self-con- 
ceited and pugnacious character. No, nothing of this 
kind enters into my impressions of individual independ- 
ence. But, instead, I mean a straightforward, manly, 
and womanly perseverance in honor of the Spiritual 
Eight that lives and rules within — a strict obedience to 
the highest idea of Truth that resides in your own soul 
— regardless of all political institutions and ecclesiastical 
requisitions to the contrary. |^° Why judge ye not 
of yourselves what is Right 1 c ^$ Why not act as 
your soul, in its highest mood, bids you to act ? The 
cost, or the penalty? That, I know, is heavy. But, 
mark the fact: you can never respect your own nature 
on any less terms ! You can never honor your Father- 
God and Mother-Nature by a less expensive existence. 
Out of the heavens a voice speaks to each individual 
soul : " Sell all thou hast, and follow Truth ! " 

But will you tell us what is Truth ? 

Your deepest and highest conviction, that is your 



AND PENALTIES OF INDIVIDUALISM. 4G 7 

Truth ; my deepest and highest conviction, that is mine. 
You cannot, therefore, altogether follow me, nor I you ; 
but each may revolve in his own orbit, to the other's 
benefit. 

On this principle, who can help admiring the individualism of John 
Huss, the Bohemian reformer ? 

John Huss stood up against what he felt to be religious 
intolerance and error. lie lived nearly a century before 
Martin Luther, opposed the doctrine of transubstantia- 
tion, and, in consequence, was physically burned to death 
by order of an institution called the Council of Constance. 
In your souls I behold reverence for the Individual ; 
for the Council, abhorrence only. 

Was not Martin Luther another instance of individual protest 
against the authority of institutions ? 

Yes ; when Martin Luther was requested, by the 

nobility, and princes, and prelates of Germany, to defend 

his new doctrine, he responded in person ; and before 

the Emperor, in the presence of a vast assemblage of 

opponents, he manfully asserted that noble Sovereignty 

of Individuality and Reason which Protestants now 

deplore in you and me ! lie concluded his defence by 

saying: "Let me, then, be refuted and convinced by 

the clearest arguments ; otherwise I cannot and will 

not recant : for it is neither safe nor expedient to act 

against conscience. Here I take my stand ^ I can do 



4:68 QUESTIONS ON THE BENEFITS 

no otherwise, so help me God ! " However much men 
feel to differ from Luther, one thing is certain — that his 
individualism challenges universal homage. It is with 
similar emotions that I think of Swedenborg and of 
John Wesley, of John Murray and of George Fox, of 
Charles Fourier and of Robert Owen, of William Ellery 
Channing, George Combe, and Theodore Parker. 

What would you say of these men ? 

Of these men I might say many things. But it is 
their individualism which impresses me deepest ; the 
manifest superiority of their souls to Institutions ! 
No calm mind can withhold from these men feelings of 
respect, of veneration. And yet we may not, by being 
true to our own orbits, find ourselves in unison with 
them. But this is not worthy of a thought. Because, 
as I have said, individualism brings no inevitable antag- 
onism ; merely an honorable difference ; conceding to 
each star (to each soul) a glory of its own. 

Are there not other examples of individualism ? 

Yes ; there are many more. How the soul kindles 
with the fires of hope, when, in the midst of Institutions, 
it contemplates the Individuality of such as William 
Lloyd Garrison and Wendell Phillips, of Lucretia Mott 
and Lucy Stone ! What individualism do these exhibit ! 
These typify a greater troop to emerge from Institutions. 
Thomas Carlyle, Henry Ward Beecher, and Ralph 



AND PENALTIES OF INDIVIDUALISM. 469 

Waldo Emerson : how exalted above Institutions do 
these minds sometimes appear! Oh, I could almost 
consent to call these independent persons " saints " — 
but I forbear: yes, and my reason for forbearing is, 
that " saints " have, from the first, advocated Institutions 
(the despotism of arbitrary laws), in opposition to the 
Rights of Individual Man ! 

Will unimaginative and utilitarian minds practise individualism 
without first calculating" the worldly penalties ? 

I think not. Merchants stop with the question of 
" profit and loss : " how much^r annum will it cost to 
tell the Truth in trade % Where is the man, in the 
vortex of business, who will follow Truth? Will the 
wine-merchant, even when convinced that his merchan- 
dise is bad for man, leave his occupation ? Not at all. 
Why not ? Because it costs too many dollars. Will the 
tobacconist, the flour-speculator, the stock-broker, the 
physician, the lawyer, or the clergyman, will any one of 
these, when persuaded that his occupation is wrong, 
leave the business, assert the soul's supremacy, and do 
something more congenial % I fear not : because the 
penalty is too severe. Oh, what shall a man give in 
exchange for his soul ? 

If you were to consider this question like a merchant, what would 
you say ? * 

If I were to speak as a merchant, I would say, that 



470 QUESTIONS ON THE BENEFITS 

it will never " j>ay " to resign or neglect the centristan- 
tial fact of the soul. Each man and each woman occupies 
an original position in the scale of life. There are 
intrinsically no " common people : " a Plato and a 
Paul, a IIuss and a Iloward, are human possibilities. 
These are bows of promise for you and I, and even 
more ; they seem to say : " Be faithful, all ye children 
of earth, for greater works than these shall ye do ! " 
The hearty Hibernian uttered this truth when he jovially 
exclaimed : " Mind yer eye (1), boys : for one man's 
good as another, and betther too." Perhaps, all men 
feel an inward prophecy of this fact. 

Do you mean to teach that individualism is an innate inheritance ? 

Yes ; each one is an eternal Fact — and to it every 
other fact in the universe must eventually come. The 
exact point of time when each person " will be better," 
and do " greater works " than earthy ideal now prognos- 
ticates, will remain with the Law of progressive develop- 
ment to determine. Bat through the alembic of Peason 
— through the receptive vessels of man's consciousness 
— must How every Truth, and every Fact, also, which a 
principle can possibly embrace. Each, therefore, should 
have his own Life — his own Liberty — his own Experience 
— his own Truth. To man's mind everything is subser- 
vient. The heavens above, the earth beneath, and 
profoundest principles, are all his own. To the Turk 



AND PENALTIES OF INDIVIDUALISM. 471 

and Christian, to the Jew and Gentile, to the Serf and 
Emperor, to the Slave and Master — to each of these, all 
rights and all liberties will come at last. I know this in 
the depth of spiritual wisdom. Most grateful do I feel 
for the power to realize the fact, that influences are now 
being exerted, on all sides, for the amelioration of our 
universal race and the establishment of individual Rights 
and Liberties. 

What have sectarians said about rights and liberties ? 

The time hath been, as I have shown, and it is not 
gone by, when sectarians believed that none on earth 
had rights and liberties, save the pope, the king, the 
bishop, and priest. Our ancestors, especially those who 
lived prior to the protestation of Luther, held to these 
opinions. This doctrine is theocratic, is monocratic, is 
aristocratic, is — everything, but democratic and republi- 
can! All Christian institutions have somewhat to un- 
learn on this subject. By the Church system, man is 
still denied the ownership of any constitutional liberties. 
Free Agency is part of a religious Drama : an alleged 
scheme, on the part of gods, to escape the blame of 
being accessory to the torment of the wicked. Protest- 
ant clergymen, with few exceptions, assert the all- 
mightiness of God, and thus logically demonstrate that 
all rights remain with the gods — to man, a category of 
duties. The gods command ; and man should obey. 



472 QUESTIONS ON THE BENEFITS 

What is this but a Roman Catholic idea a little more tenderly 
stated ? 

It is the same tiling. In essence, the two systems 
assert the same dogma, viz. : that the people have no 
rights, only duties — obligations to the gods, through 
obedience to the commandments of his vicegerents — to 
the dignitaries of the Church. 

Need I further explain the restriction which, all this imposes on 
individualism? 

Yes ; while there remains, in popular creeds and 
institutions, ideas so utterly hostile to the ki Rights of 
Man," man cannot enjoy individual liberties. The idea 
that the gods are lawless, because more powerful than 
we, is every way injurious. It serves to make man a 
weak; timid, superstitious, miserable slave ! Suppose 
the mythological gods to be almighty — suppose they 
possess all powers : does might make Right ? The true 
idea of Father-God is very different. lie cannot change. 
The Central Power of this Universe is eternally amen- 
able — as much as you and I — to the unchangeable Laws 
of Truth, Justice, Love, Wisdom, Liberty. This idea 
repudiates all arbitrary religion : and thus, unlike any 
theology, liberates the Individual. 

Will you not utter a few practical additional words, by way of 
encouragement ? 

Yes : let all men take courage. The long midnight 

age of despotic combinations is fast departing. But, 



AND PENALTIES OF INDIVIDUALISM. 473 

like a mighty sanrian-lizard of primeval origin, it will 
struggle desperately before it dies. You will be sum- 
moned to the field of battle. The individualism of 
man is to be resurrected. The few will profoundly 
respect and fight for it ; while the many will side with 
institutionalism. But one Man will put ten thousand 
such to flight : and the victory will be sure and speedy, 
on the side of Humanity. It is impossible to make all, 
of any country, followers of any one man, except for a 
brief period. Why not ? Because no one can feel and 
supply the wants of all — each man comes into being 
with a code of immutable laws. These laws are right- 
eous — adapted to the development of the whole man — 
and, some day, the penalty is heavy if he goes counter 
to their demands. These laws are more important to 
your welfare — are more divine — than all the external 
bibles, creeds, codes, or churches. Kay : do not doubt ! 
In all soberness I tell you the simple Truth. Faithful 
obedience to these laws will develop each one's innate 
character differently, but harmoniously. Under these 
conditions, each man would become a man ; and each 
woman a woman — not the mere things of custom, as 
they now are — imitator of others less developed than 
themselves — fleeting reflections of the images of anti- 
quity — automatic followers of some particular age or 
personage. The well-meaning utilitarian clergy of 



4:74: QUESTIONS ON INDIVIDUALISM. 

America think, commercially, that "it don't pay" to 
teach this modern doctrine of personal emancipation : 
to teach a religion so inexpensive as individualism. 
Hence they meet us, at the very threshold of this sub- 
ject, with a " Thus said the Lord." But I say : " Thus 
saith Humanity." Humanity is not greater than Fath- 
er-God, I grant; nevertheless, it is the broadest and 
truest exponent of His word and works. 



QUESTIONS OX THE BENEFITS AND PENALTIES 
OF INSTITUTIONALISE 



The terrific conflict between man and institutions, has 



continued for ages. Individuals have at long intervals 
openly rebelled against institutional arrogance and des- 
potism ; but, the " rebels " were soon struck down and 
silenced by the inquisitorial aids of tyranny — prisons, 
dungeons, racks, fagots, and the guillotine. But the 
revolutionary spirit of these individual rebels lived after 
them. The spirit of Liberty never sleeps — never lies 
on the dungeon's floor. Ignorance may retard the prog- 
ress of liberty ; but Nature, in due time, is mighty for 
the Right. Men have yet a valuable lesson to learn — 
viz.: that all penalties are benefits / that, thro ugh dis- 
cord we ascend to harmony. 

What are the terms with which the world designates the friends 
and enemies of institutions ? 

Supporters of venerable institutions are called "Phar- 
isees" and " conservatives ; " opposers are called " radi- 
cals" and "fanatics." Men who lend their money and 
influence to sustain institutions, arc termed " the friends 
of law and order : " the reformers of institut;onali>m, 






476 



on the other hand, are stigmatized as " abandoned her- 
etics and godless infidels." Friends of institutions are 
called " loyalists ; " the friends of Human Iiights are 
marked down in history as " conspirators. 1 ' Institutions 
and Aristocracy were married long ago ; the ceremony 
was solemnized by two Mosaic priests — the first is Pride, 
the second is Power. Individualism and Ilarmonialism 
are also married ; they wedded each the other, in the 
presence of Nature's two prime ministers — the first is 
Reason, the second is Liberty. On the side of insti- 
tutions you behold all kings, emperors, popes, priests, 
and orthodox clergymen ; on the side of human Liberty 
you behold the slave, the serf, working-men, working- 
women, hewers of wood, drawers of water, fishermen, 
and minds w T ho perform their own thinking. Institu- 
tionalism dwells in churches, in palaces, in opulent fam- 
ilies; individualism, on the contrary, lives in honest 
heads and courageous hearts. Institutionalism goes to 
heaven by faith ; individualism, by works. One serves 
theology and the gods; the other anthropology and man- 
kind. 

You said that institutionalism serves the gods : have gods any 
need of human gifts ? 

Far from it : must slaves work, from babyhood to the 
tomb, to make rich masters richer 1 The chief end of 
man, on earth, is to bless and elevate Humanity. To 



AND PENALTIES OF INSTITUTIONALISE:. 477 

attempt to glorify the gods — the Trinity — would be an 
act of supererogation. Can man add anything to the 
glory of gods? Can man impart new splendor to the 
heavens? Xay: man should only attempt possibilities. 
He can add glory and splendor to his kind ; this, then, 
is his field of action. Such would be Individualism; 
the religion of Manhood. 

Is institutionalism father of churches and governments ? 

Yes ; there are already hundreds of thousands of 
churches dedicated to the gods ; but there are not ten 
consecrated to Mankind. Governments are made to 
defend the rich, and to subjugate the poor. In Louis- 
ville, Kentucky, a rich man's son was recently freed 
from the gallows, through the power of money; while 
almost every month we hear of " the dignity of the law" 
being vindicated by the formal strangulation of friend- 
less persons for crimes far less aggravating. Institutions 
are made by the strong, to maintain power. Individu- 
als, therefore, have but one course to pursue — namely 
— to rebel against Institutions, and taJce ilie penalties. 

Will you briefly reconsider the influence of institutions upon char- 
acter ? 

Yes ; the power of institutions, over the liberties and 

tertiary characteristics of individuals, is tremendous. 

Few can withstand the popularity of their despotism. 

Few can maintain manhood, and manifest their divine 



478 QUESTIONS ON THE BENEFITS 

character, in the midst of a magnetism so energetic. 
To many persons, with certain predisposed secondary 
characters, the attractive power of popular institutions 
is irresistible. In fact, popularity to the majority of 
minds, is like some fair crystal river, in which melan- 
choly pilgrims drown themselves. They lose themselves 
willingly in its enticing bosom. It looks smooth, the 
tide is popular, and in they plunge. The Niagara of 
Reformation is too fearful for the navigator of inland 
rivers. The roar of Revolution disturbs the opium-eater. 
He who unfortunately has been nursed by the hand- 
maid of Institutions, rocked in the cradle of Popularity, 
fed gruel with the silver-spoon of Aristocracy, and sung 
to sleep in the lap of Opulence, is not the man for Hu- 
manity. No ! Humanity's man, on the contrary, is 
always born in a manger. He hath the blood of the 
people in him. lie declareth that institutions were 
made for man ; not man for institutions. Governments 
and religions are less than Man — because, from his 
mind they emanated. Therefore, all laws are really 
subject to the will of the world. Each man is a prophet, 
priest, and king. 

Are you not opening- mischievous liberties to individuals ? 

No one need fear the sovereignty of individualism; 
the right of each to act in accordance with his highest 
Intuitions. For, should one man transcend his boun- 



AND PENALTIES OE INSTITUTIONALISE. 479 

claries, another will let him know it. Yv r e need to prac- 
tise the gospel of self-government. The conservative 
may cry aloud for the safety and sanctity of Institu- 
tions. But heed him not ! His voice cometh not from 
the open field, not from the mountain's top. Far from 
it. On the contrary, his cries proceedeth from the wil- 
derness of crime and marshes of despotism, which are 
tenfold more dangerous than the everglades of Florida. 
Hark ye ! American Republicanism will be transformed 
into Tyranny, unless individual man declareth himself 
independent of all political and ecclesiastical Institu- 
tions. 

Do you not believe that American institutions, more than those 
of any other country, look toward Freedom ? 

American ehurchianity is too despotic; so, also, are 
American politics ; and yet, it is true, that both, more than 
those of any other country, are looking toward Freedom. 
It is also true that independence of mind and speech, 
is not encouraged but generally denounced. Men think 
and speak as yet on sufferance. Yes ; I urge the prop- 
osition, that the right to think and to speak freely is not 
yet established. On the Connecticut Statute-Book is a 
law against freely discussing, what I term the gods — 
usually called the "Trinity." The Hartford Bible 
Convention was, therefore, denounced as " illegal " by 
several conservatives. If the speakers at that menior- 



480 



BENEFITS 



able convention were not legally apprehended, " fined 
one hundred dollars, and sent to jail," the fact was 
owing to a spirit of toleration pervading the community ; 
not to any real love of Liberty as a principle of human 
speech and action. That convention was permitted, 
suffered, tolerated ; not defended and protected by the 
legal or religious institutions of America. Yea, I re- 
peat it, we -have no absolute Liberty among us. We 
demand something more than a patronizing spirit of 
toleration : because, there is no security for individual 
freedom under circumstances so superficial and tempo- 
rary. According to our institutions, as I have already 
said, the wife is the husband's property. He owns her 
person, her garments, her children, her rights, her liber- 
ties. But woman, becoming more and more individu- 
alized, is now resolved to rebel against our institutions. 
Not only has she determined to assert her Rights, but 
she has resolved to step forward and take them. The 
Conservative says : " Woman has now as much liberty 
as man." But here is the mistake: her liberty is not 
real. The wife is tolerated or suffered to do nearly as 
she pleases ; nevertheless, the laws of the institutions 
are against her individuality. Her liberty is not a mat- 
ter of principle ; it is secured mainly through affection, 
urbanity, and civility ; it is but a defence of the weak 
by the strong. 



AND PENALTIES OF INSTITUTIONALISM. 481 

Do you mean to affirm that in this, as in every other respect, our 
political institutions are antagonistic to individual freedom ? 

Verily ; and the same is true of onr American Church. 
It was not wholly owing to the love of Liberty among 
priests that the church meddles not with political action. 
That is to say, the people are not politically free, be- 
cause the priests love to have it so; far from it; they 
indorse individual liberty in legislation — first, because 
they make " a virtue of necessity " — second, because 
northern people, as a mass, have outgrown the absolute 
tyranny of institutionalism. It was not Love of Liberty 
that originally separated State and Church : it was the 
anger of Henry YIII. of England ; because the Pope 
would not divorce him from his then wife, Catherine 
of Aragon. But good has come out of it ! And yet, 
our political institutions would not contradict popular 
ecclesiastical enactments. The Church says that Masters 
and Servants are proper according to providential de- 
crees ; the State responds — " Amen." The Church says 
that Paul, the Saint, sent the slave back to his master ; 
the State responds "Amen," and institutes a Fugitive 
Slave Law. The Church asserts that " the desires of the 
wife shall be unto her husband, and that he shall rule 
over her y " the State responds " Amen," and institutes 
legal provisions accordingly. But humanity is some- 
what resurrected in this respect, and laws more liberal 
21 



482 QUESTIONS ON THE BENEFITS 

and just are gradually being developed. " To smother 
its grand adversary, Liberty (says that great political 
economist and faithful historian, Guizot), has ever been 
the first and last aim of the church. The overthrow of 
freedom is its mission and its hope. No man can read 
its history, the doings of its conventions, its laws and 
canons, without perceiving that in every act its aim has 
been to crush human liberty, under pretext of piety, 
and to found a tyrannical despotism, civil and religious." 

There is a political party/ recently organized, called the "Know- 
Nothings " — composed chiefly of native-bom American citizens : what 
are your impressions concerning it ? 

The paramount and governing principle, or policy, of 
this party, is, opposition to all foreign influence — di- 
rected principally against the Irish and Roman Cath- 
olics. It refuses to them the right to hold public posi- 
tions as officers, or to make laws for the American 
people. Now, I am fully aware that the Papal power 
in America is daily developing into prodigious strength. 
And many political papers encourage the spread of this 
power by securing, or endeavoring to secure, the votes 
of the Irish population. The Whigs and Democrats, 
the Hards and Softs, the Doughfaces and Emptyheads, 
and other appropriately-named parties, studiously avoid 
every word that could be construed into opposition to 
Roman Catholicity — because, simply, the Irish vote is 



AND PENALTIES OF INSTITTTTIONALISM. 4S3 

very important to the election of favorite candidates. 
I am also aware that the genius of the Catholic system, 
its real animus, is politically and ecclesiastically des- 
potic. It is Institutionalism against Individualism. 
And yet, notwithstanding all this and much more, still 
worse, I could not consent to become a Know-nothing. 
Why not ? Because I cannot oppose error with error. 
Native Americanism is a home despotism organized to 
put down a foreign despotism. It is, therefore, force, 
and prejudice, and tyranny, against tyranny, and preju- 
dice, and force. Liberty, on the contrary, can prosper 
only by Liberty. If Native influence puts down Cath- 
olic influence by force, and if the American character is 
made to indorse it, who can tell when another party 
will not arise to put down the Harmonial Philosophy? 
In a country where the Principle of Liberty is not fully 
admitted and proclaimed, I feel insecure — yea, uncer- 
tain of the Rights of my Individualism. But you ask — 

Do you not look at the consequences — the results of the spread 
and supremacy of Papal power in America ? 

With the question of consequences I have nothing to 

do — only with the Principle. Results cannot be wrong 

when Right is pursued. The same political spirit that 

would persecute and prostrate Catholics in this country, 

might, in the next fifteen years, persecute and prostrate 

Harmonial Philosophers. How so? Because, although 



484 QUESTIONS ON THE BENEFITS 

Homan Catholics and Harmonial Philosophers are abso- 
lutely opposite to each other in most questions, yet do 
they harmonize in their opposition to the Protestant 
systems of religious quackery; and they also agree to 
make the charge that American politics are fearfully 
destitute of the principles of distributive Justice and 
universal Liberty. 

What plan would you suggest whereby to prevent political and re- 
ligious despotism ? 

The only certain plan whereby to prevent the estab- 
lishment of political and ecclesiastical despotism, is this: 
A universal education of our people to revere and to 
practise the principles of Absolute Individual Liberty. 
All faith in a miraculous, arbitrary, despotic Revelation, 
must be carefully removed, and placed upon Father- 
God and Mother-Nature. The inner Light, the religion 
of Justice in the soul of each, must become the rule of 
faith and practice. American Theology and Homan 
Catholicity would then die — never to breathe again, 
never to know a resurrection. 

According to your definition, what is an Institution ? 

An Institution, according to our best definition, is an 
establishment appointed, prescribed, and founded, by 
authority — intended to be permanent. Thus, we speak 
of the established institutions of Moses or Lycurgus, 
or the laws of the Medes and Persians. The popular 



AND PENALTIES OF INSTITUTION ALTSM. 485 

idea of an Institution is, an organized society, estab- 
lished by law, or by the authority of individuals, for 
the promotion of any given object, social, political, or 
religious. Hence, it cannot but be seen that an Insti- 
tution is somewhat like the Chinese Wall — a stupendous 
and systematic effort to keep individuals permanently 
within or without. The Individual is never encouraged 
to grow and expand, save to the circumference of the 
circle. There he must stop, or be called a conspirator, 
a rebel, and — take the penalties. 

Will you point to some examples of institutional wrong- ? 

Examples are too numerous. It was an Institution, 
under the direction of Herod the Great, which caused 
the slaughter of four thousand children within the pre- 
cincts of Bethlehem. It was an Institution that pre- 
sented and accomplished the diabolical deeds of cruelty 
termed the " Massacre of St. Bartholomew," when in 
one day more than forty-live thousand persons were 
slain in Paris and the provinces of France. Do you 
wonder still that I refused to prefix the word "saint" 
to the name of Thomas Paine ? It was an Institution 
that established " the office of the Holy Inquisition," 
for the systematic extirpation of infidels, Jews, and 
other heretics. It was authorized by the Roman power, 
and put in practical operation in Italy, Spain, and Por- 
tugal. The indescribable tortures of the victims of that 



486 QUESTIONS ON THE BENEFITS 

Holy (!) Institution — their piteous cries for help — come 
to us even unto this day, laden with admonitions — with 
portentous warnings — saying : " We beseech yon, see 
to it, that } t ou arise in wisdom against the despotism of 
Institutions ? " It was an Institution that crucified the 
loving Nazarene. All wars are outbirths of Institu- 
tions. Slavery of every description — social, political, 
religious — results from Institutions. There is a u pecu- 
liar Institution," consolidated into adamantine strength, 
under the heavens of the sunny South. There the sable 
brother has no right to his body, no right to his soul : 
his wife, his little ones, his sisters and brothers — all, 
belong to the Institution. And this Institution is the 
property of the few, who, owing to the mere accident 
of birth, carry the purse, and therefore the power. 
What an unutterable misfortune it is to be born within 
the precincts of such a political and spiritual pestilence ! 

What may be said of Russian Institutionalism ? 

It was an Institution which, amid millions of human 
beings, selected the Czar of Russia to act the part of 
Despot. The Muscovite Autocrat is himself an In- 
dividual. His moral organization, nevertheless, is 
fashioned by his circumstances. His conceptions of 
justice are huge and arbitrary; not fine, and springing 
from an idea of universal distribution of rights. An 
Emperor's tertiary character is cynical in some particu- 



AND PENALTIES OF INSTITUTION ALISM. 487 

lars. He sees no really good thing in man ; because 
owing to his usurpations, the openly or secretly had is 
everywhere manifested. lie is not certain of anything 
human ; yet he treats his immediate associates with 
great respect. 

Is the Russian Emperor inclined to religion ? 

Almost every Russian despot has been actuated by a 
peculiar reverence for the sacred institutions of God. 
lie thinks the Greek Church to be the especial em- 
porium of the designs of Deity. In this particular, the 
Despot is as conscientious and superstitious, too, as any 
orthodox clergyman in the United States. For he is 
fully " persuaded in his own mind " that he is doing 
God a genuine' service, even when he entraps and sub- 
jugates other nations, to provide the Church with rich 
and numerous adherents. lie considers himself as 
much an " agent " for the Almighty as any .New Eng- 
land teacher of the faith once delivered to the Saints. 
He firmly and conscientiously believes that he has a 
" mission " to fulfil. It is right and essential to order, 
in his opinion, that he should place himself at the head 
of Church and State. 

Do Emperors usually possess strong heroic feelings ? 

The Russian ruler's love of country is strong, but his 
national pride is weaker far than his pride of power. 
His hereditary and acquired characters compel him to 






488 QUESTIONS ON THE BENEFITS 






be a worshipper of power. In this respect, an Institu- 
tional Autocrat is morbidly ambitious. lie prays to ex- 
tend his dominions, his power, and government. He 
studies hard to out-general the world. His firmness in 
this direction is unwavering and indomitable. He thinks 
strongly, steadily, indignantly. He cannot consent to 
be weak enough to pardon an enemy ; his love of power 
makes him unforgiving. His moral organization is so 
constituted, that suspicion of human nature is inevitable. 
He is enough superstitious to believe himself the spirit- 
ual and legal head of a God-made Institution : his na- 
ture, therefore, is unable to form a clear and steady 
belief in the intrinsic goodness of any Individual. This 
silent conviction — I might say scepticism — tends to ren- 
der him cruel, despotic, absolute. To his acquired 
character, it sometimes seems that — 

" Deception is the warp and thread of being; 
The sky is fickle, and the elements 
Are traitors all. The spider plots his living 
In deceit ; and in the air, the kingly birds 
With cruel art on weaker ones descend, 
And gorge their appetite. The beasts and fish, 
Who have some lordly sway, turn land and sea 
Into a stage for drama treacherous, 
Whose plot the Almighty laid. Therefore do I 
Stand up in Nature's centre, and my foot feels 
Her heart beat, while I scheme." 

"When I view an Emperor altogether, with all his 

characteristics taken in combination, I see a man who is 



AND PENALTIES OF INSTITUTION ALTSM. 489 

an instrument, or circumstance, in the hands of con- 
federated diplomatists. Everything is done over his 
shoulder. 

"What effect does this produce upon him ? 

This flatters his love of power, and gives him a repu- 
tation for great skill and courage, which lie seldom 
reality works to earn : hence, as an individual, he enjoys 
the position he occupies extremely well. The present 
Emperor's father, Nicholas, had so much pride in the 
sagacity and diplomacy of his public officers and chief 
nobles, that he affirmed them to be superior to the most 
civilized nations whom he spurned to copy or imitate 
in any particular. From strangers the Emperor would 
consent to learn or borrow seldom. There is something 
anomalous in the character of this Emperor. lie is 
master — he knows it — all acknowledge it in his nation ; 
but he never claims such absolute prerogative or control. 
Church and State are both beneath his governmental 
regulations. He makes the ecclesiastical patriarchs and 
bishops swear unequivocal allegiance and obedience to 
himself ; yet, when meeting the higher clergy in public, 
he devoutly kisses the archbishop's hands, and displays 
other evidences of religious reverence and submission. 
With the populace this policy operates like magic. 
They behold the agents of God, organized and main- 
tained at incalculable expense and ceremony, for the 
21* 



490 QUESTIONS ON THE BENEFITS 

sake of the people. To all outward seeming, the Empe- 
ror aspires to be a conscientious Christian, a devout 
priest, a careful king — a despot from the force of relig- 
ious necessity—a chief ruler among the nations. 

What seems to be the religious belief of the Russian Emperor ? 

The Emperor is moved by the conviction that he is 
designed by God to spread the Muscovite government 
over territories of the heathen. Russia is moved by its 
chief toward the East. The idea of Heaven's decree — 
a religious duty, a sacred mission — acts upon him and 
his chief officers and ministers as powerfully as ever a 
superstition influenced any mind. "Eastern powers 
must become Russian ! " This is the watchword. The 
Emperor is fully convinced that there can be no per- 
manent power in a country where the people are per- 
mitted to act out their depraved private wills. lie feels 
that Pope and King should exist only in one man, as re- 
ligion and intellect meet in one organization. Actuated 
by his acquired scepticism in regard to the tendencies of 
human nature, he watches this focal concentration of 
ecclesiastical and political power as jealously as did 
Othello the virtue of Desdemona. And you cannot 
persuade him, with his intellectual and moral organism, 
out of the idea that he should make war upon heathen 
nations, and convert them and their possessions to 



AND PENALTIES OF INSTITUTIONAL-ISM. 491 

the saving ordinances and government of the Greek 
Church. lie would he somewhat skilful in managing 
a conquest — hold, combative, courageous, hopeful, firm, 
and ambitious of power — and being, withal, so religious 
in his wars, though employing other motives as pretexts, 
you may be sure that he will spring his plans when and 
where they are least expected. 

What effect does Russian Institutionalism exert upon the inhabi- 
tants ? 

Under the institutionalism of Russia, I can see no 

escape for the serfs. The Russian ministers, I think, 

are more fond of triumph and subjugation than the 

Emperor himself. They do much toward bringing 

about pretexts for making war upon the East ; and the 

Czar gets all the praise and condemnation. lie is 

master ; his will is supreme. But his will coincides 

.with the legislation or suggestion of his chief nobles 

and public officials ; and yet it must be seen that the 

Emperor's own peculiar mind acts clearly enough in 

coloring and shaping all plans and decrees. He is a 

victim as well as King; a subject as well as Emperor. 

The nobles, as a class, are excessively proud. The serfs, 

as a class, are exceeding submissive. The Czar, as a 

man, is ambitious. All are superstitious, and actuated 

and bound together by absurd religious convictions. 

And there is no greater civilization possible in Russia 



492 QUESTIONS ON THE BENEFITS 

— no more freedom to be expected in the empire of 
Nicholas — until Individualism is recognized, and some 
valuable education is bestowed upon the ignorant and 
stultified peasantry. 

What is the heading of every despotic institution ? 

The programme of every despotic institution is headed 
with — " Believe, or be damned ! " And the head and 
front of our offending is, a personal remonstrance. But 
how difficult to swum against the tides of popularity!' 
The waves dash furiously against and roll over you. 
You must have a confidence in the Truth — else you 
will sink beneath the surface of Institutions, and be- 
come food for reptiles that crawl on their blood-stained 
foundations. 

" Once we thought that Kings were holy, 

Doing wrong by right divine ; 
That the Church was lord of conscience — 

Arbiter of mine and thine ; 
That whatever priests commanded, 

No one could reject, and live ; 
And that all who differed from them 

It was error to forgive ! " 

But now we declare ourselves a "free and independ- 
ent" race of Brothers — each a law unto himself. In- 
stitutions shall not forever bind us : and, when we say 
this, we speak for the oppressed African, the Italian, 
the Hungarian, the Russian serf — we speak for all the 
Nations ! 



AND PENALTIES OF INSTITUTION ALISM. 493 

Can you illustrate the influence of institutions upon character ? 

I have already done so. You probably remember a 
certain son of Erin who opposed the rigid Institutions 
of England, and yet advocated American Slavery. The 
freemen of the North were astonished. At home, he 
was the friend of Liberty; here, the supporter of 
Slavery. At home, he denounced the Institutions ; 
hence, the Institutions deprived him of individual 
liberty. Here, a fugitive from British tyranny, he puts 
up a voice in favor of slavery. It were better had he 
remained the friend of Freedom. The North could not 
easily bear the sting which he added to its smarting, 
burning, twinging, black Cancer, in the South. And so 
it was that men condemned John Mitchel. Because of 
his apostacy, they wrote to render him infamous. But 
let us not forget that, from his early youth — yea, by 
hereditary descent and generative blood — he was a 
victim of Institutionalism. Perhaps, real Liberty he 
had not known — still feels not. Nevertheless, he man- 
fully rebelled against certain political restrictions. But 
the grandeur of Individualism he could not, perhaps can- 
not, realize. Therefore, while I fraternize with and com- 
passionate John Mitchel, I all the more repudiate the 
Institutions of which he has been, and still is, a victim. 
" Once we thought that sacred Freedom 
Was a cursed and tainted thing — 
Foe of peace, and law, and virtue, 
Foe of magistrate and King ; 



494 QUESTIONS ON THE BENEFITS 

That the vile and rampant passion 

Ever followed in her path — 
Lust and Plunder, War and Rapine, 

Tears, and Anarchy, and Wrath ! " — 

But now we think that true individual freedom will 
forever prevent all these evils. While Liberty is the 
" foe of magistrate and King," it is not less the friend of 
" peace and virtue ; " and elevates — by its benign influ- 
ence, so attractive and so strong — each of our common 
race. The Tyrants of the Old World still regard our 
Republic as an experiment. They prophesy that the 
people will one day overthrow the foundations of our 
government. But we are Progressive ! That explains 
enough. We go from alteration to improvement ; we 
wound, only to heal. Hence, with every American 
revolution comes development. An earthquake would 
result in better geographical conditions — in better 
atmospheric combinations. Let a people practically be- 
lieve in Progression, and they will ascend from bad to 
better, " from evil educing good," as upon the rounds of 
a ladder. 

But is there not a philosophy in Government ? 

Governments procreate and reproduce themselves ; 
they come in the natural course of tilings. The first 
human government was like an acorn. When it was 
planted, out of human necessity, then began the histori- 
cal series of Institutions which have marked the path- 



AND PENALTIES OF INSTITUTION ALISM. 495 

way of mankind. The last shall be as the first in 
quality, but infinitely superior in degree : even so every 
acorn reproduces its kind, and progresses by means of 
multiplication. 

"What was the first form of government ? 

The first government was Anarchy ; that is, no gov*- 
eminent at all. This was the germ. The last will be 
even so — with this difference, that each individual at 
first was actuated by his passions ; at last, each will 
move by the light of Reason. At first, each considered 
might as right ; at last, each will esteem right as 
might. At first, the people worshipped the god 
of Wealth and Power ; at last, they will venerate the 
god of Love and Wisdom. But the Individualism of 
Mankind will at last stand out even more absolutely 
against Institutions than at first. The Anarchy of the 
first days was Confusion ; the Anarchy of the last days 
will be Harmony. The first form of government, being 
anarchical, forced every person to rely upon his own 
centre of strength. But the soul was then unable to 
practise Individualism upon a higher plane. Not Love, 
but Force, was manifested. The strong began to op- 
press the weak. Innumerable troubles arose among 
neighboring tribes ; and so, from the bosom of Neces- 
sity, came another form of government. 



496 QUESTIONS ON THE BENEFITS 

What was the second form of government ? 

The second form was Patriarchal. Kow, each tribe 
had its own Father, who was arbiter and absolute gov- 
ernor. But this form gradually changed into Theo- 
cracy. 

What is a theocratic government ? 

A Theocracy means the government of a people by 
the supposed immediate direction of God. The Israe- 
lites furnish an example. The priest, however, really 
had everything his own way. lie had but to say, " Thus 
saith the Lord " — and his commands, good or evil, were 
unhesitatingly obeyed. 

What is the fourth form of government ? 

The fourth form is Monarchy. Monarchy is a gov- 
ernment in which the supreme power is lodged in the 
hands of a single person. 

What is the fifth form of government ? 

The fifth form is Republicanism. This is a form of 
government in which majorities rule. The sovereign 
power is lodged by the people in their representatives. 

What is the sixth form of government ? 

The sixtli form is Democracy. I am led to affirm 
that a real democratic form of government has never as 
yet been developed on earth. The government of 
Athens, in Greece, was an approach to it. Democracy 
is an institution in which the supreme power is lodged 



AND PENALTIES OF INSTITUTION ALISM. 497 

in the hands of the people. America it not a Democ- 
racy ; it is Republican. Republicanism invests repre- 
sentatives with all the power of legislation : Democracy, 
on the other hand, is the power of the people to legislate 
for themselves. We aspire after a Democratic form of 
government. It is superior to Republicanism. It will 
secure the rights of Workingmen ; the rights of Free 
laborers ; the rights of the Slave ; the rights of Woman ; 
the rights of Children. But even this form of govern- 
ment is too formal for Humanity. The last shall be as 
the first. The Anarchy of the lirst must come out at 
last in the Individualism of refined and civilized man. 
Hence, Progressives as we are, we declare ourselves 
openly in favor of no government. The people are 
governed too much. They will rebel. They will 
gradually become ungovernable. They will demand at 
each other's hands absolute, supreme individual sov- 
' ereignty — which Patriarchalism, which Theocracy, 
which Monarchy, grants unreservedly to Fathers, to 
Kings, to Emperors, to Popes, to Tyrants. 

AVhat will be the seventh, form of government ? 

The seventh form will be Autocracy. An Autocratic 
form of Government is that in which a ruler, a sovereign, 
holds and exercises the powers of regulation by inherent 
right — subject to no restriction. Tins is perfect In- 
dividualism ! — independent or absolute power of self- 






408 QUESTIONS ON THE BENEFITS 

government ; supreme, uncontrolled, unlimited right of 
governing in a single person. Yes, each person will be- 
come an Autocrat. And each Autocrat will be a power, 
exercising equal justice, on principles set forth in the 
twelve commandments. 

Do you realize how this doctrine seems to a timid conservative ? 

Yes; I am well aware that, to a timid conservative, 
and to those who breathe in the atmosphere of Insti- 
tutionalism, all this bears the impress of Original An- 
archy. They fear that Confusion will be worse con- 
founded. Such minds would urge me to " beware of 
extreme radicalism." They would preach against Individ- 
ualism, as Tyrants protest against Hepublicanism. But 
I tell you that Individualism will eventually develop 
out of Democracy — just as Hepublicanism was devel- 
oped out of Monarchy — naturally, as blooming Summer 
comes out of rigid Winter. 

But suppose the American Union were dissolved ? 

There is to-day no obvious ground upon which to rest 
such a supposition ; and we will not spend our time in 
useless argumentation. Yet grant, for a moment, your 
supposition. What would be the result ? My reply is, 
an immediate reorganization, with a no better Constitu- 
tion. 

IIow do you know this ? 

From the fact that neither the character nor the soul 



AND PENALTIES OF INSTITUTION ALISM. 499 

of the American people has outgrown the form of its 
present Institution. If a farmer should attempt to de- 
stroy poisonous weeds by cutting off their leaves — the 
roots still remaining firm in the earth — his efforts would 
result in disclosing to himself his own ignorance. The 
weeds would grow all the more abundantly. That is to 
say, our government is based upon an idea of justice. 
But this idea is found to be imperfect. Notwithstand- 
ing which, the government will remain strong, unshaken, 
unaltered, until the soul of this Nation outgrows its 
political fundamentals. When a higher idea of justice 
gets into the American people, then, and only then, will 
the Union decompose like a dead body: then, too, will 
the newer, the greater, and the juster soul, be clothed 
upon with a newer, a greater, and a jnster Constitution. 
All this oratorical flourish about the dissolution of our 
Union is useful, because it moves the people, and com- 
pels many to look into the philosophy of government. 

What good can you accomplish by teaching the doctrine of In- 
dividualism ? 

If I teach the doctrine of Autocracy — if I urge you 
to accept and live out the principles of Individualism — 
I do something toward elevating, and expanding, and 
universalizing the Soul of the American people ; some- 
thing, also, toward hastening the national decomposition 
of arbitrary forms of Institutionalism, as well as all 






500 QUESTIONS ON THE BENEFITS 

phases of bondage and slavery. Most explicitly, how- 
ever, I acknowledge a certain transitional good in In- 
stitutions. Although it is true that they have long op- 
posed the growth . of Humanity — have always said, 
" Believe, or be damned ! " — yet, let us recall the princi- 
ple that all penalties are benefits. The crushed rose 
emits a sweeter fragrance : even so is obstructed and 
arrested Liberty gaining strength and righteousness. 
There is a Father-God in the constitution of Mother- 
Nature, who bringeth good out of seeming evil — har- 
mony from discord — so positively and surely, that even 
war is at last to benefit Humanity. 

Can Individualism exist independently of all Association ? 

No ; there is a degree of Institutionalism which is 
natural to man, in all stages of growth, and absolutely 
necessary to that growth — viz., the Institution of The 
Great Harmonium, based upon the law of Spiritual 
Attraction ; having no- bond of union except the Affin- 
ity of Love and the Unanimity of Wisdom. Popular 
Institutions are made from outside influences — support- 
ed .by legal enactments — infringing upon the liberties 
of large minorities. Humanitarian institutions, on the 
contrary, will resemble solar bodies — each revolving in 
its own orbit — at once an honor to Father-God and a 
happiness to all men. Benevolent, Attractive, Indus- 
trial, and Educational Associations, are, on this princi- 



AND PENALTIES OF INSTITUTION ALISM. 501 

pie, desirable as transitional means of Individual 
development. Man was not made for forms, remember ; 
but forms for man. 

" The veriest coward upon earth 

Is he who fears the world's opinion — 
Who acts with reference to its will, 

His conscience swayed by its dominion. 

" Mind is not worth a feather's weight 

That must with other minds be measured ; 
Self must direct, and self control, 
And the account in heaven be treasured. 

" Fear never sways a manly soul — 

For honest hearts 'twas ne'er intended ; 
They, only they, have cause to fear, 
Whose motives have their God offended. 



u . 



What will my neighbor say if I 

Should this attempt, or that, or t'other ? ' 
A neighbor is most sure a foe 

If he prove not a helping brother. 

That man is brave who braves the world, 
When o'er Life's sea his bark he steereth ; 

Who keeps that guiding star in view — 
A conscience clear, which never veereth." 



A PSYCIIOMETRICAL EXAMINATION OF 
WILLIAM LLOYD GARRISON. 



Foe, the world's sake, I propose to devote a few hours 
to the psjchometrical examination of a certain notorious 
and celebrated character. Moved by this self-made 
proposition — coupled with a special desire to investigate 
for myself the intrinsic nature of the gentleman — I 
yesterday procured a lock of hair from the head of 
William Lloyd Garrison, the well-known editor of the 
" Liberator," a weekly paper devoted to the advocacy 
of unconditional freedom, with this motto — " Our Co.m- 
try is the World, our Countrymen arc All Mankind " 
— published every Friday morning, in Boston, Massa- 
chusetts. "With this hair I expect to throw my mind so 
clearly into clairvoyance, that, to examine this public 
man — to see him just as he is, and not as he or others 
may think he is — will be comparatively an easy matter. 
Of course there is sufficient scepticism, respecting this 
power to discern human character, to give both the 
friends and foes of this gentleman " the benefit of the 
doubt." 



EXAMINATION OF WILLIAM LLOYD GAURISON. 503 

As yet, I have had no real opportunity to obtain a 
correct external knowledge of this indestructible Gam- 
son.* I have met and passed friendly words with him 
on several occasions ; but nothing has ever occurred, in 
any of these interviews, to let me into the *' real reality " 
of his constitution. With the public estimate of his 
character I am familiar. I have heard and read opin- 
ions of him at which my soul revolted ; which caused 
me to wish never to meet with so wicked a man. 

Ilis friends have never given me any description of 
him. The only definite thing I ever received from any- 
one respecting him was said to me by a very ardent 
friend of his, in these words : " I want you to know 
Garrison ; I think you will like him ; and I want him 
to know you." Now, in my opinion, the quickest way 
for me to arrive at this desirable knowledge, is to make 
an examination of his primary, secondary, and tertiary 
characteristics in the manner proposed ; and, as lie is to 
some extent the property of the people, I will make my 
impressions publicly known as fast as I obtain them. 
I propose to investigate him objectively, socially, in- 
tellectually, morally, and as an individual, in relation 
to the world. Let us now . proceed. The following 
were my 

* This examination was made two years ago ; since which I have 
spent several useful hours in his presence. 



501 A PSYCHOMETRICAL EXAMINATION OF 

Impressions when mewing him objectively. His 
physical system is evenly balanced and well developed ; 
it is neither too large nor too small ; sufficiently full of 
strong, elastic, enduring, muscular fibre, associated with 
a nervous organization, which is naturally steady and 
firm, but very sensitive. His brain is composed of fine 
material, remarkably active and brilliant ; giving, as 
whole, an organism very capable of withstanding the 
insidious operations of disease, the force of atmospheri- 
cal changes ; and will sustain for a long time, a vast 
quantity of carefully-graduated corporeal and mental 
labor. His personal presence has breadth, chastity, and 
manliness. When he walks, there goes a man with an 
object before him ; with something ahead to be accom- 
plished. When he stands in conversation, his manner 
is upright and downright ; he is constitutionally grace- 
ful, precise, emphatic, earnest. When he teaches before 
an audience, there stands the same man with the same 
manners : you see him gesturing, without impetuosity, 
with his right arm, as if hammering his thoughts into 
the mental fabric of the people. His countenance is 
strikingly indicative of straightforward, unchangeable 
earnestness ; shows an attachment to whatever is inher- 
ent, vital, genuine, glorious ; to nothing unmanly or 
superficial. His mouth is indicative of kind feelings 
and moderate mirth ; with a slight curve at either 






WILLIAM LLOYD GARRISON. 505 

comer, signifying a tendency toward rebuking criticism. 
His eye is generous, serious, penetrative, thoughtful ; it 
looks at and reads yon, then turns playfully aside, as if 
nothing had occurred ; while the month is earnestly but 
familiarly engaged in conversation with you or others, 
lie appears like a person who is fond of personal refine- 
ments and quietude ; fond of all the outward temperate 
comforts furnished by a rational civilization. With the 
superior portions of his head completely divested of hair 
— not from age, but through hereditary causes; with 
his somewhat prominent and well-defined features — 
though not sharp, irregular, or unbeautiful; with his 
face and neck carefully shaven and deprived thus of 
what was by nature designed as a useful ornament and 
the peculiar superscription of a man ; with a simple 
cravat nicely adjusted; with gold spectacles, sitting 
with dignity before his expressive eyes ; with his person 
neatly clad in a suit of black — and, with his manly 
form and becoming stature — there is a " certain some- 
thing " about this William Lloyd Garrison, in his exter- 
nal appearance and unsuperficial deportment, whether 
standing or reposing, which positively attracts your 
attention and unequivocally challenges your respect. 
The following were my 

Impressions when viewing him socially. In his fam- 
ily and among his friends he is peculiarly domestic and 
22 



506 A PSYCHOMETRIC AL EXAMINATION OF 

social. His love for wife and children is steady, truth- 
ful, heartfelt ; but it is not sufficiently powerful to urge 
him a hair's-breadth from what he conceives to be the 
path of Right, in his relation to the brotherhood of man. 
Home has a genial — not a moulding — influence, upon 
his affections and disposition. lie enjoys the idea of 
having a " local habitation " of his own ; yet, the love 
of locality is temperate, and gains no real mastery over 
his higher attractions and purposes. He is far more 
playful with adults than children — more mental than 
physical, in either case ; is never reserved or saturnine 
in company ; and, although inclined to satire and irony, 
is seldom betrayed into their use in common conversa- 
tion; but leans easily to a jest, or pun, and is (or may 
be) quick and fortunate at repartee. 

His private character is remarkable for its uniformity 
and simplicity ; the artlessness and spontaneity of the 
child are invariably manifest ; and through these win- 
ning attributes the strong, indomitable characteristics of 
a Man shine brilliantly forth upon his companions. 
The continuity of his social nature is likewise very re- 
markable ; before wife and children, before friends and 
enemies, he is ever the same person. He is a stranger 
to " dignified or contemptuous silence," and not less to 
all feelings of a supercilious or exclusive nature. No 
one's opinions, no one's experiences, no one's ideas, no 



WILLIAM LLOYD GARRISON. 507 

one's concerns, are without interest to him ; and he will, 
when not engaged in elaborating or completing a 
thought then ao-itatin^ his own mind, listen to the tale 
of the most humble and illiterate. To his friends he is 
warm and confiding ; to his enemies he is frank and 
honorable ; to both he will earnestly express his opposi- 
tion to their errors, thinking of neither their approbation 
nor displeasure, when a principle is under debate ; and 
yet he has quite a strong love of praise, and has no dis- 
position, per se, to wound the feelings of any man. The 
following were my 

Impressions when viewing him intellectually. His 
is a high order of intellect, but not the highest. It is 
more than usually well arranged and evenly balanced ; 
superior, in this particular, to most public and literary 
men. It looks like a house put in order. The furniture 
is well chosen, and seems, without irrelevant ornament 
or useless display, most admirably adapted to the size 
and architecture of the dwelling. In his mind there 
are no useless materials. Each thought and every ex- 
perience is made to subserve some present contingency 
and immediate purpose. This intellect is not diffusive 
and nebulous ; it is a compact, transparent unit — a one- 
ness. He does not reason very frequently from cause 
to effect — interiorly and analytically ; but mostly from 
inward prompting, with external observation and a crit- 



508 A PSYCHOMETRICAL EXAMINATION OF 

ical comparison of statistics, historical events, general 
circumstances, and contiguous or present facts. He is, 
tlieref ore, a surface and transparent reasoner ; and this 
enables him to render his ideas definitely to the people. 
He seldom reasons deep enough to reach the metaphysi- 
cal and imaginative functions of the human mind. He 
is honest, and always out and out. Yet, he possesses 
the requisite mental power to dive beneath the surface, 
and searchingly too, if he should especially desire to do 
so.' 

When occasion challenges him, he can construct a 
logical, broad, manly, and tremendous argument. He 
is very vigilant, and guards his fundamental positions 
or outposts, like an accustomed warrior. Without 
oratorical embellishments or poetic flights, always com- 
pact and well joined, loaded to the brim with cannon- 
balls calculated to do the execution designed, his 
argumentations are clear and addressed to the highest 
as well as the most practical faculties of the human 
mind. And being consciously endowed with ever-avail- 
able powers of intellect, capable of grasping great 
themes, he experiences no mental reserve or trepidation. 

Memory of words and ideas is remarkably good. 
His recollection of music is not so perfect as of the 
sentiment ; the former is remembered through the latter 
by association. He is fond of poems with generous and 






WILLIAM LLOYD GABRISON. 509 

universal themes ; ordinary versification on sentimental- 
ities is exceedingly distasteful. To him classic literature 
is replete with attractions ; his literary tastes and pow- 
ers are keen and pungent ; he writes his ideas with 
peculiar distinctness ; and is disposed to be hypercriti- 
cal, and captious even, in his own use of terms. In 
respect to the choice of words, he is naturally guarded 
and intellectually conscientious ; they must signify liter- 
ally what he thinks, or what others think, and nothing 
more. He is quick at discerning flaws in arguments ; 
the premises and conclusions are mathematically adjus- 
ted in his mind ; and there can he no mistake or alter- 
ation in positions he thus assumes, i.e., in his honest 
opinion. Yet, he is ever willing to investigate those 
assumptions afresh, and takes new views of them, when 
his judgment is convinced. Although disposed to irony, 
he seldom thinks or writes under its influence ; and 
though no less disposed to sarcasm, he tempers his 
didactic thoughts and exegetical language with benevo- 
lence and a kind of imperious suavity. There is a 
nobility "in this intelligence. It is strong, energetic, 
active, sensitive, cultivated, available, and self-sustain- 
ing. His intellectual integrity — that is, his self-justice 
in thinking or reasoning on any theme — is very extraor- 
dinary and peculiar to himself. His words are natural- 
ly not numerous, but, by development and necessity, 



510 A PSYCHOMETRICAL EXAMINATION OF 

they flow out without much interruption ; and with a 
conscientious precision. The following were my 

Impressions when viewing him morally. Some minds 
are receptacles only ; this is a source. Some are goblets 
and pitchers ready to receive and entertain ; this is a 
fountain. In the moral department of this mind, I 
feel more at home. His love of justice as a principle, 
jper se, is sensitive, intense, powerful. I feel an impe- 
rial right to examine the relations between man and 
man. Enthroned above all other thoughts aud deeper 
than all other sentiments, are — God, Justice, Liberty. 
These standing and ruling thoughts never sleep ; 
neither do they dream. The whole mind is moved 
from centre to circumference by them, as a world by 
the attractive laws of gravitation ; they not only influ- 
ence, but they mould, and give shape to all the elements 
of his hereditary and acquired character. Actuated 
and energized by these sovereign sentiments, he feels a 
severe indignation — a species of outrage committed 
upon his own soul — at the injustice done to the liberties 
of a fellow-being. His justice is severe and somewhat 
arbitrary : fortunately, it is pleasingly tempered by 
benevolence. But for this, he would be a second John 
Calyin — a person of an indomitable will — with, a perse- 
cuting disposition. But with God, Justice, and Liberty, 
so supreme to all personal or selfish sentiments — so 



WILLIAM LLOYD GARRISON. 511 

paramount to all other thoughts and attractions — this 
mind esteems everything of a temporal or prudential 
nature as unimportant, and, to some extent, as wholly 
beneath his consideration, when compared with the 
universal adoption and practical application of these 
principles. Home, friends, health, reputation, fortune, 
and even existence itself — though these are dear and 
genial to his nature — are considered secondary to the 
enthronement of God, Justice, and Liberty, in the 
constitution of men and society. 

When I let myself unrestrainedly into the inmost 
recesses of his character, I feel like speaking to a great 
audience upon a great theme. The occasion is full of 
interest. I wish to see the people excited and deeply 
incensed against some gigantic wrong ; willing to go to 
the rack or stake for the Truth's sake. I would willing- 
ly be burned to have the Idea — the inherent, vital, 
glorious, divine Principle I advocate — survive me, and 
be accepted into the consciousness of my fellow-man. 
I must speak, great, earnest, manly, burning words. 
My soul must be felt. My theme thoroughly apprecia- 
ted. If not, then I must away. But the mob must be 
addressed. Before and to the face of each man I must 
rebuke the wrong-thinking, the wrong-saying, the wrong- 
doing. Courage, hope, faith — the divine sense and 
strength of Right — possesses my whole soul. I feel like 



512 A PSYCHOMETRICAL EXAMINATION OF 

quoting passages of expressive, emphatic, hopeful, 
courageous poetry — I feel like using certain verses from 
the Old and New Testaments — to explain my inward, 
but far more authoritative, convictions. I must pay no 
deference to an opinion or institution which has only 
the prestige of antiquity to recommend it. If it suits 
not my conscience — my intellectual perception of the 
logical and absolute relations between premise and 
conclusion — then I must hesitate not to speak against 
it. But I must not confound my subjects. Where I 
speak, there all can speak — my platform is free as Truth 
makes free — which freedom and my honor are insepar- 
able. 

Thus do I feel when I let my mind into the ruling 
emotions of William Lloyd Garrison. 

His Cautiousness is large and very active, but his re- 
ligious feelings, being so superior to selfishness of any 
ordinary kind, enables him to feel no fear. Hope, con- 
fidence in self, and courage, are large and active. lie 
is self-supporting; and desires to lean on no man for 
anything. This mind and its subjects are one and in- 
dissoluble. He realizes no difference or distinction be- 
tween itself and its principles — his life, soul, intellect, 
and they, are one ; belong to' each other. Hence this 
Garrison cannot think of policies, prudentialisms, com- 
promises, and middle positions ; for nature cannot be 



WILLIAM LLOYD GARRISON. 513 

faithless to itself. His love of Father-God is powerful. 
lie has a good appreciation of human nature. lie is 
spiritually minded and intuitional ; loves to pray in a 
practical manner, in the secret closet of his own heart ; 
he believes in, and aspires toward divine principles, sub- 
jects, and personages. His mind has constitutional or 
vital concentrativeness — an adhesiveness and integrity 
to its own positions, motives, and purposes — which does 
not come from firmness or voluntary willingness to be 
steadfast. He cannot be otherwise. In this particular 
his mind is extraordinarily organized. It would be 
phrenologically supposed that his " Firmness " is large 
enough to give rise to stubbornness and dogmatic obsti- 
nacy ; which is not true. His is the firmness and sta- 
bility of the oak ; the integrity of nature to itself. It 
would also be supposed, phrenologically, that his " Com- 
bativeness " is lar^e enough to lead him to destructive 
extremes ; which is not true. His energy and dauntless 
courage come wholly from his religious and strong-feel- 
ing conscience, which, ignoring all creeds and constitu- 
tions, worships at the shrine of God, Justice, Liberty. 

lie is jealous of honor. His sensitive and energetic 
conscience constrains him to discover Wrong and to 
condemn it, in the most practical or forcible terms, 
whether that wrong be manifested by rich or poor, church 

or state, friend or foe. Having no respect for middle 
22* 



514 A PSYCHOMETRICAL EXAMINATION OF 

positions or compromises, he cannot, under any tempta- 
tions or circumstances, " make friends with the mam- 
mon of unrighteousness ; " and his outspoken denunci- 
ations of Wrong would be very likely to give offence to 
opposite characters. 

His conscience puts him wholly out of harmony with 
dominant institutions and constitutions. lie finds the 
most unpopular side of almost every question indorsed 
by the best consciences, nearest to truth (or likely to be), 
and therefore more attractive and congenial to him than 
the common side which every grade of mankind accepts. 
That abuse which he may receive from the popular con- 
science, is esteemed by him as complimentary. To be 
approbated by the majority would startle him exceed- 
ingly, with the conviction that he could not be in the 
Hight, for Right is unpopular ! He takes side with 
the abused, despitefully treated, and persecuted; be- 
cause his benevolence urges him to do so, while con- 
science compels to the work. 

Mr. Garrison has no ambition to be either conspicuous 
before the world, or martyrized for the glory of prin- 
ciples — he would like it if it were otherwise — but he 
counts everything of his own as naught, as forming no 
welcome part of his existence and happiness, which is 
obtained at the sacrifice of human rights and liberties. 
His constitutional dignity is so strong, his estimate of 



WILLIAM LLOYD GARRISON. 515 

personal honor so high and noble, that he cannot allow 
himself to descend to the plane of evil-doers — cannot 
condescend to return evil for evil — cannot consent to 
do evil, however slight, that good may come ; therefore 
he is, from the inmost principles of his character, a Non- 
resistant. Yet, he will explain, resist, and denounce 
what he sees to be Wrong. He believes only in the 
opposition of arguments — in the resistance of a peaceful 
and manful spirituality — to the evils and wrongs of 
humankind. No war, no cruelty, no arbitrary punish- 
ment; no unequal distribution of liberties among the 
people. All manner of faithlessness or hypocrisy are 
to his mind unutterably detestable; so much so that 
they incline him toward the boldness and exemplifica- 
tion of the opposite extreme. 

No man appeals more magnanimously to the high 
moral and manly feelings of the human mind. lie 
speaks directly to them. Every word must make its 
legitimate impression. lie arouses and cultivates your 
conscience ; he makes you' feel indignant and outraged 
at crimes committed against a brother-man. lie is a 
lover of righteousness ; and to obtain it, he fears not to 
fight the world with a two-edged sword. Finall}*, the 
following were my 

Impressions when viewing him individually. I will 
now sum up the effects of this character upon the world. 



516 EXAMINATION OF WILLIAM LLOYD GARRISON. 



With his organization, William Lloyd Garrison is sure 
to be cordially loved and appreciated by his friends, and 
thoroughly hated and misunderstood by his enemies. 
The superficial public will hate him — because he so per- 
emptorily ignores their prudentialisms. To the politi- 
cian, he is " a rebel " — because he will not consent to 
sell his soul to gain the world. To the business or mer- 
cantile man, he is "a fanatic" — because he is strictly 
unworldly, self-sacrificing, and unselfish. To the slave- 
holder, he is a " troublesome disunionist " — because he 
rebukes him for his gigantic crimes, and his wrongs 
against humanity he unsparingly exposes. To the de- 
votee of creeds, he is " a blasphemer " — because he can- 
not be a conservative except in what he feels and sees 
to be the Right, irrespective of forms, external, authority, 
or precedent. To the bible or pen-and-ink Christian, 
he is "an infidel" — because he believes only in the 
spirit of Religion, and subjects the letter to free and 
unrestricted criticism. To the world he is " a radical 
He former " — because he cannot hold fellowship with the 
agents and doers of manifest injustice. To his absolute 
friends, he is "the most sterling and important man" of 
this century — because they know him to be, in every 
essential particular, just what this psychometrical exam- 
ination declares — nothing 
down in malice. 



extenuated nor aught set 






DESCRIPTIVE LIST 

or 

Sift* d*m?Ut* 

OF 

Andrew Jackson Davis, 

FOR SALE BT 

WM. WHITE & CO. 

(PUBLISHERS OF BAMER OF LIGHT), 

No. 158 Washington Street, Boston, Mass., 

AND 

American News Company; New York. 



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all the volumes of the author. It abounds with thrilling passages; and no one can 
fail to bo instructed by the systematic " classification " of all the wonderful develop- 
ments of modern days. The work is, in itself, almost a demonstration of the claims 
of Spiritualism. Price, $1.50 ; postage, 20 cents. 



THE PENETRALIA. 



This work, which at the time was styled by the author, "the wisest book " from 
his pen, deserves to be brought prominently before the American public. The 
importance of the subjects considered, and the peculiarly terse and original style in 
which they are handled, combine to give the book a most noticeable character. 
While the topics are mainly theological, many questions of practical interest and 
value are answered, thus rendering the volume an acquisition to the student and phi- 
jibsopher, as well as the theologian. Price, $1.75; pcfetage, 24 cents. 



THE HARBINGER OF HEALTH: 
Containing 1 Medical Prescriptions for the Human Body and Mind. 

This new and rare volume contains more than three hundred prescriptions for the 
treatment and cure of over on* hundred different diseases, and forms of disease, 
Incident to mankind in all parts of the world. The author's prescriptions are given 
in the light of the "Superior Condition." The Harbinger of Health has never failed 
to awaken intense interest in the minds of the most intelligent of the Medical Pro- 
fession, and it is invaluable to the general reader, containing as it does, information 
concerning methods of treatment hitherto unknown to the world, and imparting im- 
portant suggestions respecting the Will Power and the Self-llealing Energies, which 
are better than medicine. It is a plain, simple guide to health, with no quackery, no 
humbug, no universal panacea. Price, $1.50 ; postage, 20 cents. 



ANSWERS TO EVER-RECURRING QUESTIONS FROM THE 
PEOPLE. 

During the period which has elapsed since the publication of the author's work 
entitled the " Penetralia," a multitude of questions have been propounded to him. 
From this list of several hundred interrogatories, those of the most permanent inter- 



est and highest value have been carefully selected, and the result is the present 
volume, comprising well-considered and intelligent replies to more than two hun- 
dred important questions. It is believed by hundreds that this work is one of the 
most interesting and useful volumes that has been issued. It invites the perusal not 
only of those vitally interested in the topics discussed, but of all persous capable of 
putting a question. It awakens inquiry and develops thought. The wide range of 
subjects embraced can be inferred from the table of contents. An examination of 
the book itself will reveal the clearness of style and vigor of method characterizing 
the replies. Price, $1.50 ; postage, 20 cents. 



MORNING LECTURES: 

Twenty Discourses, delivered in the City of Nbw York, in the 
Winter and Spring of 1863. 

This volume is overflowing with that peculiar inspiration which carries the 
reader into the region of new ideas. The discourses are clothed in language plain 
and forcible, and the arguments and illustrations convey conviction. Among the 
subjects treated are:— "The World's True Eedecmer;" "The End of the World;" 
"The Eeign of Anti-Christ;" "The Spirit, and its Circumstances;" " Eternal Value 
of Pure Purposes ;" "Wars of Blood, Brain, and Spirit;" " False and True Educa- 
tion ;" " Social Life in the Summer Land ;" &c. This volume of pfain lectures is just 
the book to put into the hands of skeptics and new beginners in Spiritualism. Price, 
$1.50 ; postage, 20 cents. 



A STELLAR KEY TO THE SUMMER LAND. 

Part I. Illustrated with Diagrams and Engravings of Celestial Scenery. 

The author has heretofore explained the wonders of creation, the mysteries of 
science and philosophy, the order, progress, and harmony of Nature in thousands of 
pages of living inspiration. He has solved the mystery of death, and revealed the 
connection between the world of matter and the world of spirits. Mr. Davis opens 
wide the door of future human life, and shows us where we are to dwell when we put 
aside the garments of mortality for the vestments of angels. The account of the 
spiritual universe; the immortal mind looking into the heavens; the existence of a 
spiritual zone— its Possibilities and probabilities— its formation and scientific cer- 
tainty ; the harmonies of the universe ; the physical scenery and constitution of the 
Summer Land — its location, and domestic life in the spheres, are new and wonderfully 
interesting. Price, $1.00; postage, 16 cents. 



ARABULA; OR, THE DIVINE GUEST. 

This fresh and beautiful volume is selling rapidly, because it supplies a deep reli- 
gious want in the hearts of the people. Best literary minds are gratified, while truly 
religious readers are spiritually fed with the contents of this volume. All who waut 



to understand and enjoy the grand central truths of the Harmonial Philosophy, anO 
all who would investigate the teachings and religion of Spiritualism, should read 
this inspired book. It contains a New Collection of Gospels by Saints not before 
canonized, and its chapters are teeming with truths for humanity, and with fresh 
tidings from the beloved beyond the tomb. The names of the new Saints are: — it 
Kishis, St. Menu, St. Confucius, St. Siaraer, St. Syrus, St. Gabriel, St. John, St. 
Pneuma, St. James, St. Gen-it, St. Theodore, St. Octavius, St. Samuel, St. Eliza, St 
Emma, St. Kalph, St. Asaph, St Mary, St Selden, St Lotta. Price, $1.50; postage, 
80 cents. 



THE MAGIC STAFF: 
An Autobiography of Andrew Jackson Davis. 

"This most singular biography of a most singular person," has been extensively 
read in this country, and is now translated and published in the German language. 
It is a complete personal history of the clairvoyant experiences of the author from 
Ms earliest childhood to 1S56. All important details are carefully and conscientiously 
given. Every statement is authentic and beyond controversy. In this volume 
(including the autobiographical parts of "Arabula" and "Memoranda" which 
enter largely into the author's personal experiences), the public will find a final 
answer to all danders and misrepresentations. Thousands of copies of the 
" Magic Staff" have been sold in the United States, and the demand, instead of 
being supplied, is increasing. Price, $1.75; postage, 24 cents. 



MEMORANDA OF PERSONS, PLACES, AND EVENTS: 

Embracing- Authentic Facts, Visions, Impressions, Discoveries in 
Magnetism, Clairvoyance, and Spiritualism. 
This volume of transcripts from the observation and experience of Mr. Davis 
will be welcomed with great pleasure by his tens of thousands of readers, in which 
they will find a great variety of those fresh and fleeting "impressions" of the 
inspired seer, carefully set down by his own hand for a period of over twenty-two 
years, that can not but let them further than ever into his own nature, and the mys- 
terious realms which his vision is permitted to penetrate and search. There is a 
peculiar freshness about this latest book from Mr. Davis that makes it specially 
attractive to the general reader. His off-hand characterization of persons of note 
will strike all as peculiarly apt and effective. In iact, it is a sort of mirror for all to 
look into. This volume should be read by all who have perused the "Magic Staff." 
The Appendix, containing the fine translation of Zschokke's tale of the " Transfig- 
uration," will attract all to its perusal, since it illustrates the curative powers of 
human magnetism, and the spiritual b»-auty and purity of the superior condition. 
This book is also paiticularly valuable to history, because it contains a chapter 
written by Mary F. Davis, concerning the "Introduction of the liariuonial Phi« 
losophy into Germany." Price, $1.50; Postage, 20 cents. 



6 

THE PHILOSOPHY OF SPECIAL PROVIDENCES. 

This is a small pamphlet of fifty-five pages, but is living with thought. The 
author considers the question, "Are there Special Providences ?" and no one can 
fail to be instructed and elevated by its perusal. The pamphlet contains Two 
Visions, and An Argument. Price, 20 cents. 



THE PHILOSOPHY OP SPIRITUAL INTERCOURSE. 

Contents. — Truth and Mystery ; God's Universal Providence ; The Miracles of 
this Age ; The Decay of Superstition ; The Guardianship of Spirits ; The Discern- 
ment of Spirits; The Stratford Mysteries; The Doctrine of Evil Spirits; The 
Origin of Spirit Sounds; Concerning Sympathetic Spirits; The Formation of 
Circles; The Resurrection of the Dead; A Voice from the Spirit Land; The True 
Religion. In this thrilling work the reader is presented with an account of the 
very wonderful Spiritual Developments at the house of the Rev. Dr. Phelphs, of 
Stratford, Connecticut; and besides these, the work is replete with similar cases in 
all parts of the country. This work is completed by its sequel, entitled * Present 
Age and Inner Life.'" Price, in paper, 60 cents; cloth, $1.00 ; postage, 16 cents. 



FREE THOUGHTS CONCERNING RELIGION. 

This pamphlet contains short arguments, fresh and vigorous, substantiated by 
plain historical and geological facts, against the popularly received idea that the 
" Bible is the word of God." Infallibility is demolished, and creeds finely 
pulverized in the mill of truth. As a little pamphlet, it is calculated to "stir up 
thought" in a bigoted neighborhood. We recommend "Free Thoughts Con- 
cerning Eeligion." Price, 20 cents. 



THE HARMONIAL MAN. 

Contents.— How shall we Improve Society? The Influence of Churches; The 
Necessity of Organic Liberty; Mankind's Natural Needs; The Means by which to 
Secure Them; The Philosophy of Producing Rain ; A Statement of Popular 
Theories; The Causes of Rain Explained ; The Philosophy of Controlling Rain; 
Answer to Scientific Objections; Plagiarism; Clairvoyance Illustrated; What will 
People Say; The Pirate's Simple Narrative. The contents of this little work are 
designed to enlarge man's views concerning the political and ecclesiastical condition 
of our country, and to point out, or at least to suggest, the paths of reform which 
the true Harmonial Man shall tread. We might add many commendatory notices 
of the press, but it is deemed sufficient to give the reader an idea of the work, bj 



publishing its table of contents. Those who know Mr. Davis 1 stylo of treating his 
subjects, will not need to be informed that this little book is full of important 
thoughts. Price, in paper, 50 cents ; cloth, 75 cents : postage, 16 cents. 



THE APPROACHING CRISIS: 

A Review of Dr. Bustmell's Lectures on Supernaturalism. 

Tho great question of this age, which is destined to convulse and divide Protest- 
antism, and around which all other religious controversies must necessarily revolve, 
Is exegetically foreshadowed in this Review, which is composed of six discourses 
delivered by the author before the Ilarmonial Brotherhood of Hartford, Connecticut. 
It is affirmed by many of the most careful readers of Mr. Davis's works, that the 
best explanation of the " Origin of Evil," and of " Free Agency," is to be found in 
this Review. Price, cloth, $1.00; postage, 18 cents. 



THE HISTORY AND PHILOSOPHY OF EVIL. 

The headings of the chapters in this pamphlet give an idea of its purport, viz. : — 
I. The Unity of Truth ; II. The Anti-Human Theory of Evil ; III. The Inter-Hu- 
man Theory of Evil; IV. The Super-Human Theory of Evil; V. The Spiritual 
Theory of Evil ; VI. The Ilarmonial Theory of Evil; VII. The Cause of Civiliza- 
tion ; VIII. The World's True Saviour Discovered; IX. The Ilarmonial Cure of 
Evil. The whole question of evil — individual, social, national, and general — is fully 
analyzed and answered by the author in this compact pamphlet. It has been exten- 
sively circulated, and is highly prized by all intelligent readers on both sides of the 
Atlantic. Price, in paper, 50 cents; cloth, 75 cents; postage, 12 cents. 



DEATH, AND THE AFTER LIFE. 

This little work contains three Lectures, and a Voice from the Summer Land. 
The t:.lrs are: — I. Death, and the Alter Life; II. Scenes in the Summer Land ; III. 
Society in the Summer Land; IV. Voice from James Victor Wilson. Thousands of 
this new and consoling pamphlet have been published and sold. In the sick-room, 

where spiritual consolations are required, or in the hands of the lonely and bereft, 
this work is effective. Price, in paper, 35 cents; cloth, 50 cents ; postage, S cents. 



THE CHILDREN'S PROGRESSIVE LYCEUM. 

A Manual, with Directions for the Organization and Management of Sunday 
Schools, adapted to the Bodies and Minds of the Young, and containing Roles, 
Methods ; Exercises, Marches, Lessons, Questions and Answers, Invocations, Silver 



8 

Chain Eecitations, Hymns, and Songs. If any doubt that this Lyceum movement is 
an inspiration, let them stand among the groups a single day; let them feel the holy 
influences that fall in showers from the higher spheres ; the uprisings of the soul, as 
involuntarily it answers to the call from its true home; the inspirations that fall 
upon the heart like angel breathings, thrilling each string with melody, and filling 
the whole being with a yearning for God and Heaven. Hundreds of these beautiful 
" Children's Lyceums" have been organized during the past year, and thousands of 
juveniles and youths of both sexes have embarked on the great journey of progres- 
sion. This Manual is a chart to indicate the best methods in the grouping and educat- 
ing process. Price, 70 cents; postage, 8 cents; for twelve copies, $8.00 ; for fifty 
copies, $30.00 ; and for one hundred copies, $50.00. 

We have also published an 



ABRIDGED EDITION OP THE LYCEUM MANUAL, 

Comprising all the Rules, Marches, Lessons, Silver Chain Recitations, Hymns, Songs, 
&c, printed on good paper, and firmly bound in cloth, at 40 cents per copy, and 4 cents 
postage if sent by mail ; for twelve copies, $4.00 ; for fifty copies, $16.00 ; and for one 
hundred copies, $28.00. 

The whole set (twenty-two volumes) $24.00; a most valuable present for a library 
public or private. 

We have also a large Lithographic Likeness of the Author. Price, $1.25. 

t^° On receipt of $24.00, we will carefully and securely pack and ship, to order, 
one copy of each of these works, and also one lithographic likeness. 

J£3f* When drafts on Boston or New York can not be procured, we desire our pa- 
trons to send, in lieu thereof, a Post-Office money order. Post-Office orders are 
alv\ ays safe, as are registered letters under the new law. 



Send all orders to WILLIAM WHITE & 00., Publishers, 
Banner of Light Office, 158 Washington Street, Boston, Mass. 
Hew York Agents : American News Company. 



S3 



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